Some Remarks on Kant's Concept of an a priori History

Abstract

Despite the a priori character of philosophical history, in several passages of his main juridical and political writings, Kant identifies certain historical events as signs of progress. Moreover, he provides no criterion in order to justify the consideration of certain facts as relevant, while neglecting others as providing no supporting evidence against the progress of the human race. In this paper I analyze these difficulties in order to show that they can be solved, to some extent, if one considers the features Kant assigns to philosophical history, and more specifically, if one takes into account its a priori and normative character.