WHAT IT TAKES TO DO THE WORLD? the physische geographie of Immanuel Kant

The objective of this paper is to analyze why Kant's Physische Geographie course is crucial for the development of his Anthropologie. His initial proposal is based on the intention of applying a philosophical scope to geography, which he did not think existed until then, since it was considered only as a natural constitution of the globe. Not convinced that he was on the right track, he in 1758 announces a new geography course with a new perspective, that geography is a preparation for philosophy in general, allowing students to distance themselves from vague concepts to clearer abstractions. Ten years later, in 1755, he announced that he would teach a course on anthropology of which geography was a complementary part. Their complement lies in the fact that our experiences of nature and man together constitute the knowledge of the world (Weltburgers) of which Kant was interested. Thus, the knowledge of man is taught by anthropology and the knowledge of nature is taught by physische geographie.