Kantian Courage:Advancing the Enlightenment in Contemporary Political Theory: Advancing the Enlightenment in Contemporary Political Theory

2. Formulating Problems

In the Groundwork, Kant sets himself the project of formulating a pure moral philosophy to clarify healthy common sense and encompass virtue and right. This chapter considers how historical developments-Darwin's The Origin of Species, the Jewish Holocaust, and 9/11-problematize that ambition. The chapter then shows how Rawls and Deleuze address the problems of naturalizing practical reason, confronting common sense, and envisioning pluralism. The chapter concludes by explaining how Kant scholarship may serve as a rarefied form of debate on the political left.