Kant and Herder on colonialism, indigenous peoples, and minority nations

Bibliographic Data

ID12915946
AuthorsVicki A Spencer (University of Otago, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume7
Issue2
Pages360-392
Publication date2015-04-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1752-9719 • E-ISSN: 1752-9727
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1752971915000032
OpenAlexW2334870192
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited56

It is the orthodox view in the cosmopolitan and normative international relations literature that Immanuel Kant is a staunch critic of European colonialism. This paper offers a far more critical stance towards Kant’s position with respect to minority nations and stateless Indigenous peoples through an analysis that draws on the criticisms developed by his contemporary and former student, Johann Gottfried Herder. The paper proceeds in three parts. In the first section, I present the evidence in favour of seeing both Kant and Herder as strident opponents of colonialism. In the second section, I then show the problems that arise in Kant’s position when his views on the state and property rights are taken into consideration. Kant’s coupling of the nation and state in contrast to Herder’s insistence that they are separate entities is highlighted as a crucial distinguishing point in their positions. In the third and final section, I indicate how Herder provides a far deeper critique of colonialism than Kant, also due to his recognition of the problematic nature of ideological pronouncements of progress

Colonialism · Epistemology · Ideology · Indigenous · Normative · Political science · Politics · Section (typography · State (computer science · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought