Brief considerations on racism and human dignity in Kant

Abstract

This article critically analyzes the relationship between Kant's racist thought and his universalist moral philosophy, discussing whether or not there is a contradiction between the two. Kant, in fact, held empirical racist ideas, defending the existence of hierarchical human races and attributing superiority to the white race, based on Lamarckian and Eurocentric conceptions of his time. Although his statements are ethically unacceptable, they do not imply a denial of the universal moral dignity of human beings that underlies his practical philosophy. One can distinguish between Kant's "empirical racism," referring to talents and temperaments, and his "transcendental humanism," according to which every human being, by possessing rational faculty, is a person and has inalienable dignity, regardless of race, gender, age, or mental condition. Thus, although Kant expressed racial prejudices (especially in his lectures on geography and anthropology), his transcendental ethics remain coherent and anti-racist in principle, since the categorical imperative demands treating all humanity as an end in itself. It is legitimate to morally condemn Kant's racism, but it is inappropriate to dismiss his philosophy because of it. His thought was profoundly beneficial in fostering the universal and unconditional recognition of human dignity, the abolition of slavery, the end of colonialism, the rule of law, republicanism, and many other achievements of the last 200 years.