Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View
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''Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View'' is a non-fiction book by German
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
Immanuel Kant. The work was developed from lecture notes for a number of successful classes taught by Kant from 1772 to 1796 at the Albertus Universität in then Königsberg, Germany. While nominally detailing the nature of anthropology as a field, it additionally discusses a variety of topics in terms of
Kantian thought Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind, ...
.


Origins and arguments


Background and composition

Kant's work distills the content that he taught in an annual course at the Albertus Universität in then Königsberg, Germany, a program which Kant set forth from 1772 until his retirement in 1796. The book came out in 1798 with the intent of exposing Kant's viewpoints on the then embryonic intellectual field of anthropology to a wider audience. Despite not being free, unlike other speaking engagements by Kant, the philosopher's classes on the topic had achieved widespread popular interest in contrast to previous attempts to spread his general ideas to the masses. ''Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View'' wound up being the last major work of Kant that was edited by the philosopher himself. The strain of his age and the state of his health had significantly affected his writing. Despite the meaning that he attached to the book, those factors meant that he found himself unable to do more much than arrange his lecture notes for publication. Summing up Kant's views on
ideals Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered ...
in the context of the book's composition, scholar Frederick P. Van De Pitte has written,


Methodology and views expressed

Within the work, Kant remarks that anthropology seeks to answer the fundamental question "what is the human being" and thus can be considered the academic discipline with the highest intellectual scope. A later reviewer commented about Kant's opinions that " e of the many lessons... is that at the empirical level of application, there is no sharp dividing line between morality and nature, since empirical psychology can function as empirical ethics for this purpose." In conclusion, according to the reviewer, " man beings in nature are acting, moral beings". Exploring in multiple aspects the causes and effects of people's behavior, Kant spends many pages on topics such as the
biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...
as well as
psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...
capacity for individuals to live through and comprehend experiences. For instance, the writing details Kant's views on the external senses as well as the particular nature of different mental states from drunkenness to sleep. He expands to discussions on social organization and interpersonal relations while inserting numerous comments about different types of people as well as various life events. Many of these relate to observations of humanity itself, generally speaking. Specifically, Kant states that "a mind of slow apprehension is therefore not necessarily a weak mind" since "the one who is alert with abstractions is not always profound" but "is more often very superficial." He argues, " e deceiver is really the fool." On determination and mental resolve, in addition, Kant asserts that " rough failures one becomes intelligent" and "the one who has trained himself in this subject so that he can make others wise through their own failures...
hus Hus or HUS may refer to: Medicine * Hemolytic-uremic syndrome, a disease characterized by haemolytic anemia, kidney problems and a low platelet count People * Hus (surname) * Hus family, an 18th-century French dynasty of ballet dancers and ac ...
has used his intelligence." Kant defends what he describes as the seeking of knowledge by even the uncertain layperson, the philosopher arguing " norance is not stupidity." The book additionally features detailed accounts by Kant of him applying his " categorical imperative" concept to various issues in real experience. For example, he writes about the contrast between striving idealism and personal vice, the philosopher writing, On the subject of religion, he laments what he sees as unnecessary conflict in terms of cognitive purposes and the regular practice of devotion, Kant remarking, Comparing and contrasting different human groups, Kant makes a variety of assertions about men and women as well as different ethnicities, nationalities, and races. For instance, he writes about the sexes, " e woman wants to dominate, ndthe man wants to be dominated". The philosopher argues in depth that nature "made women mature early and had them demand gentle and polite treatment from men, so that they would find themselves imperceptibly fettered by a child due to their own magnanimity" and additionally "would find themselves brought, if not quite to morality itself, then at least to that which cloaks it, moral behavior". In Kant's eyes, ideal marriage exists in such a way that a woman acts like a monarch while a man acts like a
cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, â ...
. In terms of differing nations, Kant asserts that important generalities can be made about the peoples of various areas, stating specifically, In sum, the philosopher views ethical analysis fundamentally as constituting "practical anthropology". He aims not to necessarily assign duties to individuals but to empower them intellectually so that they can properly set their own paths themselves. Dovetailing on the same issues, the concluding section of ''Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View'' discusses "the character of the species" and evaluates the necessity of giving space for personal
freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
as a key element in broader social advancement.


Analysis and scholarly treatment

Scholars Victor L. Dowdell and Hans H. Rudnick have argued that ''Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View'' constitutes the best way for layperson readers to begin learning Kant's philosophy. ''
Introduction to Kant's Anthropology ''Introduction to Kant's Anthropology'' (french: Introduction à l'Anthropologie) is an introductory essay to Michel Foucault's translation of Immanuel Kant's 1798 book '' Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View'' — a textbook deriving from ...
'' (French: ''Introduction à l'Anthropologie''), seminal intellectual figure
Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...
's analysis of Kant's book, served as Foucault's secondary thesis (alongside a translation of Kant's work itself plus Foucault's writing ''Folie et Déraison: Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique'') in 1964. Foucault's work received an English translation and widespread publication in the 2000s. In his analysis, the French scholar evaluates the question of whether or not psychology has supplanted metaphysics in the evolution of reasoning. He specifically warns against this. Foucault additionally writes that Kant's understandings highlighted the fact that empirical knowledge about human nature has been intrinsically tied up with language. Thus, a person can be considered a citizen of the world insofar as he or she speaks.


Reception

Upon its initial release, ''Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View'' generated a considerable public response. The book ended up receiving the highest number of printings of any of Kant's works up to that time in its initial run. Despite this, multiple writers considered the work unworthy of serious intellectual analysis. For many years, it became seen as a lesser work in the context of Kant's entire bibliography. Recent analysis of the book have described it as a vital resource on Kant's thinking. For example, a 2007 article published by the journal ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'' labeled it as "increasingly important", with reviewer
Frederick Rauscher Frederick Rauscher (born 26 November 1961) is a philosophy professor and well known Kant scholar currently teaching at Michigan State University. Rauscher earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. Previously, he taugh ...
, a professor at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
and writer, noting the work's "complex nature" in detailing interesting topics.


See also

*
1798 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1798. Events *February – Samuel Taylor Coleridge writes the conversation poem " Frost at Midnight", commonly seen as the best of the series. *April – Colerid ...
* Age of Enlightenment * Anthropology * Ethics *
Immanuel Kant bibliography Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 â€“ 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...
'' **''
The Critique of Practical Reason The ''Critique of Practical Reason'' (german: Kritik der praktischen Vernunft) is the second of Immanuel Kant's three critiques, published in 1788. It follows on from Kant's first critique, the '' Critique of Pure Reason'' and deals with his mo ...
'' **''
The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals ''Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals'' (1785; german: Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten; also known as the ''Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals'', ''Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals'', and the ''Grounding for the Metaphysics o ...
'' **''
The Metaphysics of Morals The ''Metaphysics of Morals'' (german: Die Metaphysik der Sitten) is a 1797 work of political and moral philosophy by Immanuel Kant. In structure terms, it is divided into two sections: the ''Doctrine of Right'', dealing with rights, and the ''D ...
'' **''
Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason ''Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason'' (german: Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Vernunft) is a 1793 book by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Although its purpose and original intent has become a matter of some dispute, ...
'' *''
Introduction to Kant's Anthropology ''Introduction to Kant's Anthropology'' (french: Introduction à l'Anthropologie) is an introductory essay to Michel Foucault's translation of Immanuel Kant's 1798 book '' Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View'' — a textbook deriving from ...
'', analysis by Michel Foucault * Kantianism * Philosophy of life


References


External links

{{Wikiquote, Immanuel Kant
''Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View'' - Download - Epdf.pub
1798 non-fiction books Anthropology books Books by Immanuel Kant Enlightenment philosophy Ethics books German non-fiction books Philosophy textbooks