Abstract
One central debate in the German Enlightenment concerned the “Bestimmung” or vocation of humankind, involving authors such as Spalding, Abbt, Mendelssohn, and Schiller, continued by authors such as Fichte and Reinhold. While originally developed as a theological concept, the idea of a vocation was easily adapted in other contexts, such as philosophy of nature (Blumenbach, Mendelssohn) or philosophy of art (Schiller). It also had a remarkably strong impact on Kant’s philosophy that is not yet entirely understood. Kant is one of the very few modern thinkers who explicitly writes about the origins of humankind, as well as the way we can conceive the passage of humanity through time, and finally about our conception of the distant future of humankind. It seems clear that the concept of vocation connects the (conjectural) beginning of humankind to its (ideal) future. In this paper, I will elaborate this aspect, focusing primarily on both the origins and future of humankind and the way they are connected by this specific conception of a vocation. I argue that Kant picks up on the Enlightenment debate on the vocation of the human being and combines it not only with core ideas of the philosophy of pedagogy of his time, but it is also inspired by the philosophy of history, as he develops his perspective on the formation and cultivation also in his critical engagement with Herder’s philosophy (see, e.g., Review of Herder’s Ideas, AA 8:56). The germs for humankind’s future have already been implanted in the very beginning of its existence, yet only freedom and self-determination can work on removing their internal and external limitations to achieve the fulfillment of this vocation. So the vocation is not an external ‘calling’, but rather an internal striving towards self-fulfillment. This striving, however, should not only be conceived on the individual level, but needs to be related to an ideal of society, in which the relevant human actions are both facilitated and enticed. The vocation of humankind as a collective thus relates to the achievement of individual freedom in a just society. In this sense, it can be made clear that Kant’s concept of humankind’s vocation is not only a yet underrated core concept in Kant’s moral philosophy and his pedagogical ideas, but serves as a nexus to connect them both to his philosophy of history.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Today, the generic singular ‘man’ is justifiably considered sexist, as it semantically excludes women; but it would be the correct translation of the German equivalent, the neutral generic term ‘der Mensch.’ In this paper, I will mostly translate the expressions the ‘Bestimmung des Menschen’ and the ‘Bestimmung der Menschheit’ as ‘vocation of humankind.’ However, it is worth mentioning that this implies a semantic shift from an abstract noumenon or from an unusual notion of human essence (semantically similar to ‘humanhood’) to the concept of a species. I will introduce more nuanced terms whenever necessary. For an analysis of Kant’s use of the term ‘Menschheit,’ see Lyssy (forthcoming). Similar problems appear with the translation of the term ‘Bestimmung,’ which often is translated as ‘vocation,’ ‘determination,’ ‘destination,’ or ‘destiny.’ Even the decisive Cambridge Edition occasionally employs different terms. Here, I will stick to the first translation since the religious or providential connotation is more visible in this context and the term ‘determination’ brings to mind conceptual determinations. This has the advantage of making my paper terminologically consistent with one of the major treatises of this topic in English, namely Di Giovanni (2005).
- 2.
We find this idea expressed in some of Kant’s earlier writings, such as the Only Possible Argument…, and in later texts, such as the Critique of Judgment—within a framework that has, of course, considerably changed.
- 3.
On Kant’s idea that germs and predispositions result from an original organization, cf. ÜGTP, AA 08: 179 and KU, AA 05: 372 ff.
- 4.
This is essentially a theodicy of history—a justification of historical evil. Cf. Binoche (1994), who also reads Kant’s philosophy of history in this way.
- 5.
As Macor (2013) and Raatz (2014) have convincingly argued, Spalding builds on Shaftesbury’s idea of an economy of nature, in which every entity, property, or predisposition has been assigned its place. Humans have a natural sentiment for all these functions and how they can be put into harmony and equilibrium, and it is this sentiment which, for Shaftesbury, is the proper source of morality.
- 6.
“Solchergestalt habe ich die Grundregeln <ewigen Regeln> des Rechts und der moralischen Ordnung erkannt […]” (Spalding 1999: 81).
- 7.
He simply ignores the role of the snake in the Fall of humankind, turning it into an entirely human affair. He also reads the use of animal skins for the sake of clothing as a human act of reason (8: 114), while in the Bible this is an act of divine benevolence (Gen. 3: 21).
- 8.
Andreas Sommer reads this passage as anticipating Freudian ideas: Sublimating the ‘drives’ entices humans to bring forth great works of culture and reason. See Sommer (1997): 207.
- 9.
A detailed account of the knowledge Kant had of Spalding’s writings can be found in Macor (2013). For a different take on their relation see Zöller (2001).
- 10.
IaG, AA 08: 23; 2007: 113: “[T]he human being is an animal which, when it lives among others of its species, has need of a master. […] But where will he get this master? Nowhere else but from the human species. But then this master is exactly as much an animal who has need of a master.”
Bibliography
Binoche, Bertrand. 1994. Les Trois Sources des Philosophies de l’Histoire (1764–1798). Paris: PUF.
Brandt, Reinhard. 2003. The Guiding Idea of Kant’s Anthropology and the Vocation of the Human Being. In Essays on Kant’s Anthropology, ed. Brian Jacobs and Patrick Kain, 85–104. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———. 2007. Die Bestimmung des Menschen bei Kant. Hamburg: Meiner.
Di Giovanni, George. (2005). Freedom and Religion in Kant and His Immediate Successors. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Edgar, Andrew. 1992. Kant’s Two Interpretations of Genesis. Journal of Literature and Theology 6 (3): 280–290.
Frei, Andreas. 1999. Religion und Vernunft. Kants Interpretation der Genesis in ‘Mutmaßlicher Anfang der Menschengeschichte’. In Kant als politischer Schriftsteller, ed. Theo Stammen, 87–108. Würzburg: Ergon.
Gerhardt, Volker. 2011. Mutmaßlicher Anfang der Menschengeschichte. In Immanuel Kant: Schriften zur Geschichtsphilosophie, ed. Otfried Höffe, 175–196. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
Gniffke, Franz. 1984. Die Gegenwärtigkeit des Mythos in Kants ‘Mutmaßungen über den Anfang der Menschheitsgeschichte’. Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 38: 593–608.
Grenberg, Jeanine. 2005. Kant and the Ethics of Humility. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hinske, Nobert. 1990. Die tragenden Grundideen der deutschen Aufklärung. Versuch einer Typologie. In Die Philosophie der deutschen Aufklärung, ed. Raffaele Ciafardone, 407–458. Stuttgart: Reclam.
Kleingeld, Pauline. 1995. Fortschritt und Vernunft: Zur Geschichtsphilosophie Kants. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann.
———. 2001. Nature or Providence? On the Theoretical and Moral Importance of Kant’s Philosophy of History. American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 75: 201–219.
Louden, Robert B. 2012. Kant and the World History of Humanity. Internationales Jahrbuch des Deutschen Idealismus 10: 3–17.
———. 2014. Cosmopolitical Unity: The Final Destiny of the Human Species. In Kant’s Lectures on Anthropology—A Critical Guide, ed. Alix Cohen, 211–229. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lyssy, Ansgar. Forthcoming. Über den Begriff der Menschheit bei Kant. In Natur und Freiheit. Proceedings of the XIIth. International Kant Kongress, ed. Violetta Waibel. tba.
Raatz, Georg. 2014. Aufklärung als Selbstdeutung. Eine genetisch-systematische Rekonstruktion von Johann Joachim Spaldings ‘Bestimmung des Menschen’ (1748). Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Sommer, Andreas Urs. 1997. Felix peccator? Kants geschichtsphilosophische Genesis-Exegese im Muthmasslichen Anfang der Menschengeschichte und die Theologie der Aufklärungszeit. Kant-Studien 88 (2): 190–217.
Spalding, Johann Joachim. 1999. Die Bestimmung des Menschen. In Die Bestimmung des Menschen, ed. Norbert Hinske, 69–96. Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag.
Wood, Allen. 1991. ‘Unsocial Sociability’: The Anthropological Basis of Kantian Ethics. Philosophical Topics 19: 325–351.
Yovel, Yirmiyahu. 1980. Kant and the Philosophy of History. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Zöller, Günter. 2001. Die Bestimmung der Bestimmung des Menschen bei Mendelssohn und Kant. In Kant und die Berliner Aufklärung, vol. 4, ed. Volker Gerhardt and Rolf-Peter Horstmann, 476–489. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lyssy, A. (2018). Kant on the Vocation and Formation of the Human Being. In: Lorini, G., Louden, R. (eds) Knowledge, Morals and Practice in Kant’s Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98726-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98726-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-98725-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-98726-2
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)