Kant's Idea for a Universal History PDF

10 - Kant’s Idea for a Universal History Human history, despite its apparent chaos and folly, follows a systematic and purposeful progression. Kant argues that all natural predispositions of a creature are determined to develop completely and purposively. 1st Proposition All capacities of a creature...

10 - Kant’s Idea for a Universal History Human history, despite its apparent chaos and folly, follows a systematic and purposeful progression. Kant argues that all natural predispositions of a creature are determined to develop completely and purposively. 1st Proposition All capacities of a creature are destined to evolve completely to their natural end. All the natural abilities and features of a living being are designed to develop fully and serve its intended purpose. 2nd Proposition An extension of the 1st. It is impossible to fully develop in an individual life. Natural capacities are meant to be developed over time, not just within the individual, but across the entire human race. 3rd Proposition Nature has intended for humans to create everything that goes beyond the basic necessities - evident by our reason and free will. We are to be self-sufficient and self-reliant in our pursuit of happiness. Freedom and reason to create our own happiness. 4th Proposition Nature employs antagonism, an unsocial sociability. There is a need to be in society to have an understanding of the world while also maintaining a mutual opposition that threatens to break society. This threat stems from a tendency to dominate, compete, and therefore innovate that ultimately contributes to enlightenment and moral development of society. We go to war, we learn, we make society better accounting for what happened, and repeat. Antagonism in society, driven by unsociability, serves as a means for a manifold development of human capacities, ultimately contributing to the progress of society. Conflict is the engine of history. 5th Proposition Society with irresistible power and a perfectly just constitution, is the highest problem assigned to the human race by nature. The achievement of a universal civic society, with a perfectly just constitution is the ultimate challenge. 6th Proposition The 5th Proposition is the greatest problem mankind faces. 7th Proposition A perfect civic constitution is dependent on the problem of a lawful external relation among states. In a commonwealth, a person’s unsociability creates antagonism and friction which is used by nature to create a condition of quiet and security. The education of a society’s citizens is necessary for the attainment of moral order. A perfect constitution can be achieved when society knows that it can destroy itself but chooses not to. 8th Proposition Nature will eventually bring about the perfect state where there is a perfect civic constitution. 9th Proposition A universal history that maps nature;s plan is feasible and serves the purpose of advancing the ultimate goal of Nature for the human race. Everything from then to now is in the trajectory of a harmonious civilization.