L'uomo e la storia dal punto di vista cosmopolitico in I. Kant

Kant's reflections on the philosophy of history and, more generally, political philosophy and philosophy of law, hold paramount importance to understand his anthropological thesis. The paper begins with the 1784 work, Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in weltbürgliche Absicht, then it extends to the contemporary writings, in primis the essay of the same year Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung? The aim is not only to show the idea of a man who can break free from the minority insofar as he uses his reason, but also to indicate the difficulties involved in this undertaking from the historical and political point of view, because of human nature's "unsociable sociability" (ungesellige Geselligkeit). After the French Revolution, Kant returns on these issues in the 1797 work, Ob das menschliche Geschlecht im beständigen Fortschreiten zum Besseren sei, which will constitute, the next year, the second part of Streit der Facultäten, one of the last most significant works written in this regard by the author of Zum ewigen Frieden.