Rationality as pragmatic worldly prudence: Kant’s anthropology and the modern social sciences

• Applicants: Dr. Alexey Salikov; Dr. Alexey Zhavoronkov
• Subject Area: Practical Philosophy ; History of Philosophy
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 449581114

This project examines the question of how the modern social sciences can take into account and make use of Kant’s anthropological point of view, most prominently of his notions and arguments connected to the concept of pragmatic reason. The project’s goal is an interdisciplinary research in two key areas – the ones of political theory and sociology. The key goal is to answer the question concerning the possibility of using Kant’s anthropological concept of pragmatic rationality in the current debates in sociology and political theory as well as Kant’s possible contribution to the future development of these sciences. This goal presupposes two further, secondary aims of the project which are reflected in the first two parts of the project. In the first part, a comprehensive picture of the social and political layers of Kant’s anthropology will be presented, with the purpose of addressing the question of whether Kant’s anthropology actually presents a serious methodological approach, as seen from the perspective of the modern social sciences. The second part will contain an analysis of the previous reception of Kant’s thought in sociology and political theory – primarily in the light of the anthropological questions. This analysis should establish whether several key Kantian ideas are present or absent in their development. Consequently, the third part of the project will outline the possible relevance of Kant’s anthropology – most importantly of the concept of pragmatic reason in connection to Kant’s assumptions concerning the ‘unsocial sociability’ of human beings, their ability to develop themselves and the relations between self-consciousness, development of reason, education, social interaction and social structure – for the contemporary sociology and political theory. In the same context, we will search for a ‘Kantian’ answer to the question regarding the relation between theoretical and empirical rationality in social and political contexts.The main result of the project will be two monographs, covering the topics of the subprojects, and a structured edition of collected papers, covering the key aspects of the main topic of the project. The greater part of the edition will include papers submitted by cooperation partners. Its conception will be developed by the applicants together with invited speakers during the thematic workshops.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants