Philosophy 02

“Humanity is in its greatest perfection in the white race. The yellow Indians already have a lesser talent. The N* are much lower, and lowest of all is parrt of the American peoples.”

Quote translated after: Immanuel Kant (1802): Vorlesungen über Physische Geographie, AA 9: 316. Picture: Johann Gottlieb Becker (1720-1782), Wikimedia, Creative Commons.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was a philosopher of European Enlightenment who lived in Königsberg, now Kaliningrad. His philosophy is still considered groundbreaking today and he is celebrated as the father of human rights.

The quote comes from a lecture on Physical Geography that Kant gave regularly from 1755 until the end of his teaching career in 1796. It is available mainly in form of transcripts by Kant's students, which is why it is not possible to determine with certainty what Kant said exactly . Kant drew most of his knowledge from travel reports, in this case from Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon. The quote contradicts Kant's ethics and moral philosophy, which presupposes the equali-ty of all people and is also considered fundamental to the Declaration of Human Rights. This contradiction has been the subject of lively public and academic debates for a num-ber of years. Because of such quotes, Kant is considered by some to be the founder of modern race theory.

*Huaping Lu-Adler (2023): Kant, Race, and Racism: Views from Somewhere. Oxford: Oxford University Press. *Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze (ed. 1997): Race and the Enlightenment. A Reader. New Jersey: Wiley & Sons Ltd. *Robert Bernasconi (Jan/Feb 2003): Will the real Kant please stand up. The challenge of Enlightenment racism to the study of the history of philosophy, in: Radical Philosophy 117.

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