CEPPA Talk (online only) – Lea Ypi (LSE)

Location: Teams (online only)

Title: Kant the Racist?

Abstract: This paper examines Kant’s thoughts on race considering his analysis of teleology. It explains how Kant analysed the development of human races in connection to his account of the development of “germs” and “dispositions” in the human species. It further explains how that theory changed with the introduction of Kant’s analysis of reflective judgment. The paper argues that the important shifts in Kant’s analysis of teleology after the third Critique had crucial implications for Kant’s assessment of the development of human races and limit the scope of the charges of racism his theories have recently received.