Browsing by Author "Magero, Jacob"

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    Contradiction in Kant’s Hierarchical Racism and Egalitarian Humanism
    (Journal of Sociology, Psychology & Religious Studies, 2024-09) Ndole, Philip Ochieng; Magero, Jacob; Namwambah, Tom
    Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), a prominent and influential German Enlightenment philosopher, believes that white people are superior to non-white people. He divides mankind into four groups: "white" (Europeans), "yellow" (Asians), "black" (Africans), and "red" (American Indians). Kant claims that other races, except the white race, are unable to acquire moral maturity due to a lack of talent (a gift of nature). He argues that whites themselves have all themotivationand talents, while blackscan receiveeducation,but only as slaves. NativeAmericans cannot receivean education, theydon't careabout anything,theyare lazy. This contradicts his egalitarian humanism. He proposes the belief in universal democracy and categorical moral imperative, where he argues that everyoneshould be seen and treatedas “ends”,not as means to an end. One should alsoact as one would want all other people to act towards him or her, and according to the maxim one would wish the action to be a universal law.This paperadopts the laws of thought, that is, theprinciple of identity, the principle of non-contradiction,and the principle of excluded middle tointerrogate and evaluate the consistent tenability of Kantian hierarchical racism on one side and egalitarian humanism, espoused in categorical imperative, on the other side. The conclusion is that thereis a contradiction.