Purposiveness, transcendental ideas, andphilosophical history. Notes on the Idea for aUniversal History with a Cosmopolitan Aim, in lightof the Transcendental Dialectic of the Critique ofPure Reason

Resumo

This paper aims to point to relationship between Transcendental Dialectic of the Critique of Pure Reason (KrV) and Idea
for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Aim (IaG). Specifically, it seeks to show the theoretical and methodological foundation
that the principle of purposiveness and the systematicity of reason, as presented in the KrV, offer to Kant’s philosophical conception
of history in the IaG. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section presents – as problematic – the premises that, in the
introduction to the IaG, Kant adopts in his philosophical investigation of history. The second section focuses on the Appendix to
the Transcendental Dialectic, examining the legitimate use of transcendental ideas, as well as their indeterminate objective necessity.
Finally, the third section examines some propositions of the IaG, suggesting that the repercussion of the Transcendental Dialectic
on the IaG allows us to understand Kant’s distinctive investigative method in philosophical history.