Humankind and humanity in German enlightenment philosophy

• Applicant: Dr. Ansgar Lyssy
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy
• Term: from 2013 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 246397149

This research project aims at investigating the relationship between the practical concept of humanity and the biological concept of humankind in German philosophy of the late Enlightenment (roughly between 1750-1800). Both concepts are connected in the German neologism "Menschheit," which appears in philosophical debates only after 1750. At first the term relates to the essence of human nature, but after a short but intensive period of discussion it ends up denoting the whole of humankind from ca. 1800 on. Within these approx. 50 years, the term "Menschheit" plays a central role in different philosophical and trans-disciplinary discourses: in the development of philosophical anthropology, in universal history, in the Enlightenment approaches to religion, and in the debate concerning the new, more secularized foundations of ethics, just to name a few. It seems crucial to emphasize that this term relates the practical concept of humanity to the notions of humankind and human nature (which are given in descriptive accounts). Humankind's potentials can only develop in history and will lead to a general improvement of humanity.An analysis of several key texts by Kant, Herder, Humboldt, Forster, Iselin and others will trace the origin of the term "Menschheit" in philosophical discourses and its subsequent shift from naming an essence to denoting a collective. I will place special attention on the philosophy of Kant, due to his outstanding historical and systematical importance. The project will thus contribute to contemporary debates about humanity and humankind in the Enlightenment while focusing on a key concept, to which sufficient attention has not been yet paid. Thus it will reconstruct an important moment in the development of our modern self-image, as today we conceive ourselves as individual parts of a global and interconnected collective humanity. The project will thus also shed some new and much needed light on the historical background of several contemporary debates about our current self-image.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants