カントの歴史哲學

Abstract

Kant's philosophy of history is a practical philosophy. In this small treatise I shall try to make clear this practical character. For Kant, the character of human being in the organic nature is the cultivation of human reason, which depends on the historical efforts that man continues from generation to generation. Kant acquired his idea of history from this cultural, historical nature of human being. In Kant the history of mankind is a history of liberty, or that of progress which is based on the spontaneity of the human will. Though human history is a history of liberty, the progress of culture, strictly speaking, can not be identified with the historical liberty which mankind must realize in his history, because the progress of culture is necessarily accompanied by 'das radikale Böse'. Nor is the moral liberty, which is defined as the final purpose of human being in the Second Critique, to be identified with the historical liberty, for it is too abstract to be so identified. Also the progress of culture must be denied its relativity by the moral liberty, which, however, must be realized in nature by means of culture. Therefore the moral culture, which consists of synthesis of both, together with the establishment of a cosmopolitan society (die weltbürgerliche Gesellschaft, which is the positive condition of the moral culture, should be considered as the historical liberty. The realization of the cosmopolitan society, so far as' das radikale Böse' is the evil beyond human efforts, presupposes the postulate of something which should be beyond all human abilities. It is the postulate of God. We can consider Kant's postulate of God both as a religious belief and as a historical one. The former postulates God as the helper of human efforts while the latter postulates God as the providence (die Vorsehung) of nature which leads not only those who make their own efforts, but also those who are unwilling, that is, as the master of nature and even of' das radikale Böse'. Here 'das radikale Böse' has its meaning as the promoter or medium of historical development. We can see here the highest peak of Kant's philosophy of history. If we consider the postulate of God as a theoretical presupposition, it is only an opinion. Kant denied all the possibility of an intuitive understanding whereby we may understand the providence of God. Therefore, the overcoming of pessimism and conflict with' das radikale Böse' in Kant's philosophy are only subjective. Here precisely we can see a limitation of his philosophy.