The Nature of Kant's Anthropology Lectures in Königsberg

The aim of this paper is to focus on the nature, i.e., on the epistemological and institutional status of the lectures on anthropology held by Kant from Winter 1772/73 to Winter 1794/95 at Königsberg and which provided the basis for the 1798 publication entitled Anthropologie in pragmatischer Hinsicht. Its main thesis is that Kant’s anthropology lectures were not only non-scientific from the beginning, they were also extracurricular, i.e., they were not part of the Albertina’s required courses in the school of philosophy and also not in the upper schools of medicine, law, and theology. Kant’s anthropology lectures were not attended by students only, but also by bourgeois, military officers, and aristocrats. In a word, Kant’s anthropology lectures roughly corresponded to what today an American university would carry under the heading of “Adult and Continuing Education.” This aspect has never been made clear in the current literature on Kant’s anthropology. I proceed in four parts. The first part deals with the systematic place of anthropology within Kant’s works. The second part considers the 1770 course guide valid at Königsberg throughout Kant’s long tenure and the place of anthropology within it. The third part is dedicated to an analysis of the epistemological character of Kant’s anthropology. The fourth part concludes with some remarks on anthropology and transcendental philosophy.