GEOCOSM · Kant, a Cosmopolitan in Königsberg: an Idea for a Local History with a Cosmopolitan Aim
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2021-11-05 → 2024-11-04
- EU contribution
- €246,669
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Kant, a Cosmopolitan in Königsberg: an Idea for a Local History with a Cosmopolitan Aim
One of the most influential political texts articulating a vision for a peaceful global order is Immanuel Kant’s Perpetual Peace. The text was published in 1795 by the shores of the Baltic Sea, a region, which has resurfaced today as a place of conflict. However, the academic literature has for a long period adopted Kant’s thoughts and ideas without any regard for its historical context. Only recently a more critical perspective has emerged analysing Kant’s cosmopolitan vision through the lectures on geography that he developed and presented throughout his academic career. In order to engage with this new line of criticism this project seeks to return Kant’s cosmopolitan vision to its historical context in Königsberg. In doing so it presents a vision of a more worldly Kant engaged with tackling the political dilemmas of his era. The result is a reenvisioning of Kant’s political thought that can be responsive to the multiple dilemmas between political ideals and realities that we face in our own time.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Kant, a Cosmopolitan in Königsberg: Idea for a local history with a Cosmopolitan Aim Abstract: This project provides a historical contextualist analysis of the relationship between Immanuel Kant’s theory of cosmopolitan law and his lectures on Physical Geography. The reformulation of Kant’s theory of cosmopolitan law into our present context has perhaps proved to be one of the most influential normative frameworks for analysing and evaluating the state of our globalized society. However, recent critics have suggested that the global order, proposed by Kant, does not simply rest on universal values but is rather historically rooted in a European centre with an imperialistic agenda. This criticism largely hinges on a reintroduction of Kant’s lectures on Physical Geography and Pragmatic Anthropology as the proper historical context for understanding Kant’s cosmopolitan right. The question, however, is how to understand this context. The objective of this project is to situate Kant’s lectures within the academic culture of his University in Königsberg. I propose to see the lectures as an active engagement with the inclusion of Königsberg into world society, and hence as a way of problematizing the process of globalization. This means that the lectures should not, as critics have suggested, be interpreted as the basis of Kant’s cosmopolitan law but rather the other way around: his theory of cosmopolitan law should be seen as critical answers given to questions identified and raised in the lectures. Despite the growing interest in these lectures there is still no comprehensive historical study of Kant’s lectures on geography and its role in his political philosophy. The ultimate aim of this project is to deliver such a study.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- GEORG-AUGUST-UNIVERSITAT GOTTINGEN STIFTUNG OFFENTLICHEN RECHTS · GottingenCoordinatorGermany
- THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · CHICAGO ILLINOISUnited States
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union