The Kantian Philosophy of History: from the Idea of Progress to the Foundation of an Ethics of Intergenerational Responsibility

All of Kant's reflections on history, despite some variations, have the same common thread: they all develop a perspective on human history which allows us to affirm that moral progress is at stake there, conceived essentially as a progress of law which is supposed to culminate in the achievement or constant approach of a Cosmopolitical society governed by universalized law. However, Kant's philosophy of history is not a theory of historical necessity. The teleological perspective established in 1784 views progress with reference to the idea of perfectibility, which is why it requires the deliberate action of men and engages their responsibility in the continuation of generations. The aim of this article is to show that the Kantian philosophy of history carries an idea of progress whose originality is to lay the foundations of an ethics of intergenerational responsibility poorly recognized by posterity.