Introduction to Kant's Anthropology
Encyclopedia
Introduction to Kant's Anthropology is an introductory essay to Michel Foucault's
translation of Immanuel Kant's
1798 essay, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View. Both works together served as his secondary thesis (his major being Madness and Insanity: History of Madness in the Classical Age), although Foucault's translation of the Anthropology was published separately by Vrin
in 1964. The introduction was published in an English translation by Arianna Bove on generation-online.org in 2003.
Foucault holds that in Kant's Anthropology, the conditions of possibility
of experience (transcendental subjectivity) are referred back to the empirical existence of the subject. That is to say, in an attempt to understand how we experience the world Kant inaugurates the idea of studying ourselves as empirical objects. However, since Kant has made clear in the Critique of Pure Reason
that the transcendental subject cannot exist within chronology, since it is the starting point of knowledge (it is within time in the sense that things happen to it, but it is outside of time in the sense that causal changes amongst phenomena require our transcendental perception in order to become chronological) then a contradiction arises regarding the possibility of the transcendental subject being the starting point of an understanding of the limits of knowledge:
Thus, the transcendental subject - man as the ultimate a priori (requiring no empirical study in order to be known to exist) that as the basis of thought is the foundation of all empirical knowledge
- cannot be the basis of knowledge if, simultaneously, it can be investigated as an object of that knowledge. If it is an object of knowledge, then it exists chronologically, within things to be perceived, and therefore requires ordering by our perception. If that is the case, then it is constantly both present and not present, pre-existing enquiry and existing within enquiry, and therefore leading to an oscillation between knowing subject and subject to be known.
This has clear implications for phonemenology, existentialism
, Marxism
and metaphysics generally, all of which dominated French philosophy
and social sciences
during Foucault's youth. The reliance on the concept of a foundational selfhood, with a coherent relationship between itself as phenomenal subject and the external world, is undermined in the face of a critique that considers one of the foundation stones of modern philosophy - Kant's idealism
- to be simultaneously contradicted by the concept of anthropology. Thus, Foucault warns against an anthropology that seeks to provide a metaphysical account of man:
This concern with anthropology as "limit and negativity" would animate Foucault's future work: The Order of Things
would continue his critique of the doubling of man as subject and object in the form of the "Analytic of Finitude", whilst work such as The Birth of the Clinic
or Madness and Civilization
both outline the emergence of anthropological institutions that sought to order humans negatively, as objects to be limited, defined and restricted. However, the end of the Introduction to Kant's Anthropology also demonstrates the relationship with Nietzsche that would become important in the 1970s and 80s, since Foucault makes clear that the question "What is man?" is rendered impotent by the concept of the Übermensch
: "The trajectory of the question Was ist der Mensch? in the field of philosophy reaches its end in the response which both challenges and disarms it: der Übermensch." The relationship between Kant and Nietzsche would be expanded in the 1984 essay, What is Enlightenment?
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
translation of Immanuel Kant's
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
1798 essay, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View. Both works together served as his secondary thesis (his major being Madness and Insanity: History of Madness in the Classical Age), although Foucault's translation of the Anthropology was published separately by Vrin
Vrin
Vrin is a municipality in the Val Lumnezia. It belongs to the circle of Lugnez/Lumnezia in the district of Surselva in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland....
in 1964. The introduction was published in an English translation by Arianna Bove on generation-online.org in 2003.
Foucault holds that in Kant's Anthropology, the conditions of possibility
Condition of possibility
Condition of possibility is a philosophical concept made popular by Immanuel Kant.A condition of possibility is a necessary framework for the possible appearance of a given list of entities. It is often used in contrast to the unilateral causality concept, or even to the notion of interaction. For...
of experience (transcendental subjectivity) are referred back to the empirical existence of the subject. That is to say, in an attempt to understand how we experience the world Kant inaugurates the idea of studying ourselves as empirical objects. However, since Kant has made clear in the Critique of Pure Reason
Critique of Pure Reason
The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant, first published in 1781, second edition 1787, is considered one of the most influential works in the history of philosophy. Also referred to as Kant's "first critique," it was followed by the Critique of Practical Reason and the Critique of Judgement...
that the transcendental subject cannot exist within chronology, since it is the starting point of knowledge (it is within time in the sense that things happen to it, but it is outside of time in the sense that causal changes amongst phenomena require our transcendental perception in order to become chronological) then a contradiction arises regarding the possibility of the transcendental subject being the starting point of an understanding of the limits of knowledge:
…the relation of the given and of the a priori takes a reverse structure in the Anthropology to that revealed in the Critique. The a priori in the order of knowledge, becomes in the order of concrete existence an originary which is not chronologically first but which, as soon as it appears…reveals itself as already there.
Thus, the transcendental subject - man as the ultimate a priori (requiring no empirical study in order to be known to exist) that as the basis of thought is the foundation of all empirical knowledge
A priori and a posteriori (philosophy)
The terms a priori and a posteriori are used in philosophy to distinguish two types of knowledge, justifications or arguments...
- cannot be the basis of knowledge if, simultaneously, it can be investigated as an object of that knowledge. If it is an object of knowledge, then it exists chronologically, within things to be perceived, and therefore requires ordering by our perception. If that is the case, then it is constantly both present and not present, pre-existing enquiry and existing within enquiry, and therefore leading to an oscillation between knowing subject and subject to be known.
This has clear implications for phonemenology, existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
, Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and metaphysics generally, all of which dominated French philosophy
French philosophy
French philosophy, here taken to mean philosophy in the French language, has been extremely diverse and has influenced Western philosophy as a whole for centuries, from the medieval scholasticism of Peter Abelard, through the founding of modern philosophy by René Descartes, to 20th century...
and social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
during Foucault's youth. The reliance on the concept of a foundational selfhood, with a coherent relationship between itself as phenomenal subject and the external world, is undermined in the face of a critique that considers one of the foundation stones of modern philosophy - Kant's idealism
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
- to be simultaneously contradicted by the concept of anthropology. Thus, Foucault warns against an anthropology that seeks to provide a metaphysical account of man:
One aim has been to make anthropology count as a Critique, as a critique liberated from the prejudices and the dead weight of the a priori, overlooking the fact that it can give access to the realm of the fundamental only if (sic) remains under the sway of critical thought
Critical thinkingCritical thinking is the process or method of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. The origins of critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic...
. Another (which is just another version of the same oversight) has been to turn anthropology into a positive field which would serve as the basis for and the possibility of all the human sciences, whereas in fact it only speak the language of limit and negativity: its sole purpose is to convey, from the vigour of critical thought to the transcendental foundation, the precedence of finitude.
This concern with anthropology as "limit and negativity" would animate Foucault's future work: The Order of Things
The Order of Things
The Order of Things is a book by Michel Foucault first published in 1966. The full title is Les Mots et les choses: Une archéologie des sciences humaines...
would continue his critique of the doubling of man as subject and object in the form of the "Analytic of Finitude", whilst work such as The Birth of the Clinic
The Birth of the Clinic
The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception is the second major work of twentieth-century French philosopher Michel Foucault. First published in French in 1963, the work was published in English translation in 1973...
or Madness and Civilization
Madness and Civilization
Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason by Michel Foucault, is the English edition of Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique, a 1964 abridged edition of the 1961 Folie et déraison: Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique. An English translation of the complete 1961...
both outline the emergence of anthropological institutions that sought to order humans negatively, as objects to be limited, defined and restricted. However, the end of the Introduction to Kant's Anthropology also demonstrates the relationship with Nietzsche that would become important in the 1970s and 80s, since Foucault makes clear that the question "What is man?" is rendered impotent by the concept of the Übermensch
Übermensch
The Übermensch is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche posited the Übermensch as a goal for humanity to set for itself in his 1883 book Thus Spoke Zarathustra ....
: "The trajectory of the question Was ist der Mensch? in the field of philosophy reaches its end in the response which both challenges and disarms it: der Übermensch." The relationship between Kant and Nietzsche would be expanded in the 1984 essay, What is Enlightenment?