Antinomies of race: diversity and destiny in Kant

ABSTRACT

Larrimore's essay reads Kant's pioneering work in the theory of race in the context of his thought as a whole. Kant wrote on race for most of his career; at different stages of his thinking, race assured meaning in human diversity, confirmed the value of a practical-reason-informed understanding of human destiny, and provided a model for the ‘pragmatic’ knowledge of what ‘man can and should make of himself’. ‘Race’ was invented in 1775 as an advertisement for the new disciplines of geography and anthropology that Kant inaugurated and promoted throughout his career. Giving new meaning to a foreign (French) term associated with animal husbandry, Kant presented the (supposedly) exceptionlessly hereditary traits of race as the first fruit of a truly scientific ‘natural history’ of humanity. His concerns were not merely classificatory; his four-race schema, modeled on the temperaments, allowed a special status for Whites as at once a race and the transcendence of race (Kant invented ‘whiteness’ as well as ‘race’). The notion of ‘race’ was refined in essays Kant published in the 1780s, in the same journal as his celebrated essays on Enlightenment and the philosophy of history. It was given a new status, rather than displaced, by the critical turn. Granted a sanction ‘similar’ to the postulates of pure practical reason, its empirical verification would confirm Kant's whole critical system. Kant's theory of race came into its own in the 1790s, gaining wide acceptance. He relied on familiarity with it (and its lingering association with animal husbandry) in explaining the larger project of the ‘pragmatic anthropology’ without which he thought human progress impossible. Understanding how the concept of race contributed to Kant's more familiar and still appealing intellectual and practical concerns, we gain a better sense of its fateful and enduring attractiveness in subsequent eras.     

可误论、实在论与科学进步

为了突破近代西方哲学的认识论困境,皮尔士提出了一种可误主义的知识理论.但皮尔士并没有因此而放弃对客现真理的追求,他的实在论向人们表明在认识探究过程中,虽然没有任何可靠的基础给我们提供保证,但是,我们依然可以追求客观的真理(终极的实在).因为人类认识过程(尤其是科学进步过程)就是通向真理的"长征".就是不断向实在的趋同.     

马恩现实主义思想的当代价值

马恩现实主义思想以历史唯物主义史观为基础,使现实主义发展成为一种科学的理论,在马克思主义文艺思想中占有重要的地位。它在今天仍然是指导我们文艺创作与研究的基本原则,我们应该用发展的眼光去重点坚持其真实性原则和艺术的社会批判精神,并服务于当代的文学创作与研究现状。     

批判实在论与马克思主义哲学的主要区别

批判实在论的一个重要发展方向就是自觉地与马克思主义密切联系起来,并认为自己在很多方面是对马克思主义的丰富和发展.事实上二者有很多本质区别,这些主要区别可以从本体论、认识论、辩证法和价值论四个领域分别加以澄清.     

Three Forms of Political Realism

In the recent study of international relations, political realism has, apparently, had as many supporters as detractors. Nonetheless, there seems to be a growing tendency to treat the categories of political realism as if they were passing the way of all flesh, destined to be replaced by system theory, transnationalism, Marxist structuralism, critical theory or whatever. One difficulty with this judgement is that political realism is not a single theoretical entity which can be refuted by single disconfirming instances. Nor is it an understanding of the subject rooted in the views of such well-known exponents of this school as Hans Morgenthau, Kenneth Thompson, Martin Wight, Sir Herbert Butterfield, E. H. Carr or Raymond Aron. On the contrary, political realism is a conception of politics which stretches back to the great Indian thinker Kautilya and in fact constitutes a many-mansioned tradition of thought about international relations. Three aspects of that tradition are examined in this essay: Common-sense Realism, Concessional Realism and neo-Aristotelian Realism. These reflections are only very tangentially related to the debates in the 1950s and 1960s concerning realism. This essay focuses, rather, on certain neglected features of contrasting philosophies of science. The article concludes, somewhat tentatively, that neo-Aristotelian Realism is coherent and cogent and superior in important respects to what scientific empiricism has to offer.     

Ethics and Foreign Policy: the Antinomies of New Labour's 'Third Way' in Sub-Saharan Africa

This article explores how New Labour has attempted to implement its ideas about a 'third way' foreign policy in sub-Saharan Africa. Through an examination of British foreign policy practices, we explore whether New Labour has succeeded in finding a 'third way' between traditional views of socialism and capitalism in Africa. In particular, the article focuses on New Labour's attempts to build peace, prosperity and democracy on the African continent. We conclude that although New Labour's claims to add an 'ethical dimension' to foreign policy have succeeded in giving Britain a higher profile in the international arena, the implementation of such a policy is intrinsically difficult. These difficulties in turn arise from the antinomies embodied in New Labour's policy, or more specifically from the tension between the liberal internationalism of the third way and traditional concerns for the national interest, as well as the contradictions inherent in a commitment to both political and economic liberalism.     

Making Hay ... or Clutching at Ontological Straws? Notes on Realism, 'As-If-Realism' and Actualism

Stuart McAnulla provides an eloquent defence of a particular variant of critical realism, suggesting that it provides a more appropriate set of ontological foundations for the kind of critical political analysis I espouse than the ontological actualism he attributes to me. In this rejoinder, whilst welcoming McAnulla's important intervention in the debate, I defend myself against his charge of actualism (if the attribution of an ontology to an author can be regarded as a charge), whilst indicating how the 'as-if-realism' that perhaps better reflects my ontological assumptions is perfectly compatible with critical political analysis. In so doing I caution against ontological evangelism, the notion that only 'real' entities can be causal, and the appeal to structures (like patriarchy) as causes. I conclude by reflecting on the complex and seldom discussed relationship between experience and ontology.     

对传统现实主义理论与实践的历史考察

传统现实主义理论产生于 2 0世纪特定的社会历史环境 ,同时对 2 0世纪历史进程产生了重大的影响。它包括三个理论分支 :地理政治学、权力政治学和外交政策学。传统现实主义理论对我们分析西方国家外交政策有参考作用 ,但它终究是为西方国家尤其是美国的霸权主义和强权政治服务的     

东亚安全:现实主义和自由主义的视角评析

东亚地区日益成为21世纪国际政治的中心舞台之一,有关该地区的安全问题也逐渐被人们提上了议事日程。时至今日,该地区仍尚未形成一种稳定的国际关系格局。不同学者对于东亚地区未来安全的前景也存在多种解读,本文从国际关系理论的两大流派———现实主义和自由主义的不同视角,综合分析对东亚安全的不同解释,并提出东亚安全面临的现实挑战及可能选择。