Kant on the human animal : anthropology, ethics, race /

Scattered throughout Kant's illustrious career are various digressions that have yet to be reconciled with his more renowned critical project on the architectonic of reason. Taking aim at Kant's sporadic forays into anthropology, Baumeister (Seton Hill Univ.) attempts to rehabilitate Kant's views on human animality and, in the process, expose a consistent thread, if not a persistent tension, underlying Kant's overarching critical project. In five short chapters, Baumeister traces the function of animality in Kant's philosophical development. Through close readings of relatively obscure essays, reviews, and lectures, Baumeister demonstrates not only that Kant viewed humans as animals bestowed with reason, but also that Kant's moral philosophy is rooted in a violent tension between rationality and animality. Further, Baumeister traces the development of Kant's anthropological views, uncovering a sort of teleological anthropology in which reason bends human nature to its will, yet human beings retains their core animality. The final chapter confronts Kant's notorious views on racial difference, exposing them as logical--albeit abhorrent--extensions of his views on human animality. In sum, Baumeister offers a compelling case for bringing Kant's views on animality into conversation with his critiques of reason and judgment. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. --Lane Alan Wilkinson, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga