Kant and the New Enlightenment: On the Balance between Duty and Utilitarian Ends
The relation between Kant’s philosophy and the “philosophy of balance” as it is described in the report Come on! Capitalism, Short-termism, Population and the Destruction of the Planet, delivered to the Club of Rome in 2018, requires some analysis. The authors of the report consider Kant to be a phi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Кантовский сборник |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.kantiana.ru/kant_collection/5349/42058/ |
| _version_ | 1797777176177672192 |
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| author | Andrey S. Zilber |
| author_facet | Andrey S. Zilber |
| author_sort | Andrey S. Zilber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The relation between Kant’s philosophy and the “philosophy of balance” as it is described in the report Come on! Capitalism, Short-termism, Population and the Destruction of the Planet, delivered to the Club of Rome in 2018, requires some analysis. The authors of the report consider Kant to be a philosopher of European Enlightenment which laid the foundations of the modern world, but also proved to be the source of global problems. The report characterises the philosophy of the Enlightenment as lop-sided rationalism which dismisses everything that does not possess desirable properties. In exchange, the authors offer a philosophy of balance, described in several points as the balance between conflicting values. The overarching problem of the philosophy of balance is the restraining of egoism. For this reason I first examine the relationship between duty and human inclinations in Kant’s ethics. I then demonstrate that the topic of political forecasts and the recommendations which Kant prescribes both in his philosophy of history and in his reflections on politics, right and justice, essentially boils down to three points of the philosophy of balance: the balance between development and justice (Kantian republicanism), between the speed and stability of development (external policy, the Kantian peace project), and between the short-term and long-term perspectives (reform policy). I then touch upon the problem of the implementation of Kantian principles in politics in the light of the reception of Kant in the modern theories of social conflicts, the communication theory of J. Habermas and the justice theory of J. Rawls. The overall conclusion is that Kant’s philosophy is not a philosophy of exclusion, capitalist values and utilitarianism and is not their ideological basis.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T23:01:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-05d334f8bd844e559f3b85629bd375f0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0207-6918 2310-3701 |
| language | deu |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T23:01:23Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Кантовский сборник |
| spelling | doaj.art-05d334f8bd844e559f3b85629bd375f02023-07-19T11:48:47ZdeuImmanuel Kant Baltic Federal UniversityКантовский сборник0207-69182310-37012023-06-01422406710.5922/0207-6918-2023-2-3Kant and the New Enlightenment: On the Balance between Duty and Utilitarian EndsAndrey S. Zilber0Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal UniversityThe relation between Kant’s philosophy and the “philosophy of balance” as it is described in the report Come on! Capitalism, Short-termism, Population and the Destruction of the Planet, delivered to the Club of Rome in 2018, requires some analysis. The authors of the report consider Kant to be a philosopher of European Enlightenment which laid the foundations of the modern world, but also proved to be the source of global problems. The report characterises the philosophy of the Enlightenment as lop-sided rationalism which dismisses everything that does not possess desirable properties. In exchange, the authors offer a philosophy of balance, described in several points as the balance between conflicting values. The overarching problem of the philosophy of balance is the restraining of egoism. For this reason I first examine the relationship between duty and human inclinations in Kant’s ethics. I then demonstrate that the topic of political forecasts and the recommendations which Kant prescribes both in his philosophy of history and in his reflections on politics, right and justice, essentially boils down to three points of the philosophy of balance: the balance between development and justice (Kantian republicanism), between the speed and stability of development (external policy, the Kantian peace project), and between the short-term and long-term perspectives (reform policy). I then touch upon the problem of the implementation of Kantian principles in politics in the light of the reception of Kant in the modern theories of social conflicts, the communication theory of J. Habermas and the justice theory of J. Rawls. The overall conclusion is that Kant’s philosophy is not a philosophy of exclusion, capitalist values and utilitarianism and is not their ideological basis. https://journals.kantiana.ru/kant_collection/5349/42058/egoismsociabilitybalancethe club of romepublicityprovisionalityconflictplanning perspective |
| spellingShingle | Andrey S. Zilber Kant and the New Enlightenment: On the Balance between Duty and Utilitarian Ends Кантовский сборник egoism sociability balance the club of rome publicity provisionality conflict planning perspective |
| title | Kant and the New Enlightenment: On the Balance between Duty and Utilitarian Ends |
| title_full | Kant and the New Enlightenment: On the Balance between Duty and Utilitarian Ends |
| title_fullStr | Kant and the New Enlightenment: On the Balance between Duty and Utilitarian Ends |
| title_full_unstemmed | Kant and the New Enlightenment: On the Balance between Duty and Utilitarian Ends |
| title_short | Kant and the New Enlightenment: On the Balance between Duty and Utilitarian Ends |
| title_sort | kant and the new enlightenment on the balance between duty and utilitarian ends |
| topic | egoism sociability balance the club of rome publicity provisionality conflict planning perspective |
| url | https://journals.kantiana.ru/kant_collection/5349/42058/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andreyszilber kantandthenewenlightenmentonthebalancebetweendutyandutilitarianends |