Kant’s concept of history and the problem of progress

Abstract

In his Idea for a Universal History Kant resorts to the regulative assumption of a «hidden plan of nature» in order to justify his enlightened view of human progress in history. But this approach has an important flaw: man’s technical and political achievements need to be consolidated by means of moral progress, which is not warranted by any natural teleology. This difficulty is given prominence in a number of Kant’s later writings and eventually leads to a profound revision of his view of history (most explicitly in his book on religion).