Contradiction in Kant’s Hierarchical Racism and Egalitarian Humanism
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Date
2024-09
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Journal of Sociology, Psychology & Religious Studies
Abstract
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.
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Ndole, P. O., Magero, J., & Namwambah, T. (2024). Contradiction in Kant’s Hierarchical Racism and Egalitarian Humanism. Journal of Sociology, Psychology and Religious Studies, 4(5), 33- 46