Kants Universalism And The Concept Of Race – Jameliah Inga Shorter – Bourhanou

My interpretation of Kant’s philosophy of history regarding the question of nature and freedom is informed by what Huseyinzadegan calls the “nonideal” in Kant’s philosophy of history. Drawing on Charles W. Mills’ work on ideal and nonideal theory, Huseyinzadegan points out that in Mills’ conceptualization, ideal theory can be seen as a “methodological strategy” insofar as it “operates with an idealized so- cial ontology, a notion of human agents with idealized capacities, and an idealized version of social institutions.”17 Ideal theory is oriented in a “top down” fashion and entails a focus on normative political ideals.18 It is exemplified by goal-​oriented utopian political theory that reveals how we ought to orient ourselves to make for a just society.

In con- trast, nonideal theory refers to considerations about what is actually happening in the world.19 It operates in a “bottom up, from the real to the ideal” fashion.20 Yet nonideal theory, too, according to Mills, can be seen as a methodological strategy.21 From this viewpoint, nonideal theory considers the actual conditions of the world and attempts to come up with a political theory that attends to these conditions.

Huseyinzadegan argues that in Kant’s philosophy of history, he engages in both ideal and nonideal theory. Distinguishing between the ideal and the nonideal in Kant’s philosophy of history helps resolve the concern about nature and freedom because it offers a way to theorize in tandem these seemingly disparate lines of thought. Huseyinzadegan’s observation aligns with Kant’s claims in the phi- losophy of history. Kant states that it is the job of the philosopher to discover the underlying meaning of human “appearances,” or actions.

The philosopher “cannot at all presuppose any rational aim of theirs [that is, of humans]”: human actions emerge mostly from “folly, childish vanity, often also out of childish malice and the rage to de- struction; so that in the end one does not know what concept to make of our species, with its smug imaginings about its excellences” (8:18).

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Mills, Edited by Elizabeth Anderson Kant’s Universalism and the Concept of Race Jameliah Inga Shorter-​Bourhanou Kant’s Universalism and the Concept of Race JAMELIAH INGA SHORTER-​BOURHANOU Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.

© Oxford University Press 2026 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, used for text and data mining, or used for training artificial intelligence, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.

You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Shorter-Bourhanou, Jameliah Inga author Title: Kant’s universalism and the concept of race / Jameliah Inga Shorter-Bourhanou. Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2026. | Series: Philosophy of race | Includes bibliographical references and index.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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