ABSTRACT

This collection of new essays by some of the leading commentators on Kant offers the first comprehensive assessment of the philosophical importance of Kant's lectures on anthropology, a new body of material which advances our understanding of Kant's conception of anthropology, its development, and the notoriously difficult relationship between it and the critical philosophy. There are two broad approaches adopted: A number of the essays consider the systematic relations of anthropology to the critical philosophy, especially speculative knowledge and ethics. Other essays focus on the anthropology as a major source for the clarification of both the content and development of particular Kantian doctrines.  Includes essays by Reinhard Brandt, Howard Caygill, Paul Guyer, Brian Jacobs, Patrick Kain, Robert Louden, Susan Shell, Werner Stark, and Allen Wood.