From Self-Preservation to Cosmopolitan Friendship: Kant and the Conceptual Structure of Love
Abstract
This article provides a concise overview of some of the main features of the conceptual structure of love in Kant’s major writings. I have previously argued (Rinne 2018) that by analysing Kant’s notion of love in the contexts of his discussions of self-love, sexual love, love of God, love of neighbour and love in friendship, we can detect an ‘ascent of love’ from the strongest impulses of human nature to the highest ethical ideals of cosmopolitan friendship. Here I supplement my previous ‘ascent model’ of love in Kant with a different model, which I call the ‘expanding circle model’. This model builds on the Stoic metaphor of expanding spheres of subjective concern and affection, and highlights the continuity between Kant’s different notions of love. The two models are not mutually exclusive and rather complement each other. In conclusion, I problematise the practical import and the actual universality of Kant’s cosmopolitan notions of love.
Abstract
This article provides a concise overview of some of the main features of the conceptual structure of love in Kant’s major writings. I have previously argued (Rinne 2018) that by analysing Kant’s notion of love in the contexts of his discussions of self-love, sexual love, love of God, love of neighbour and love in friendship, we can detect an ‘ascent of love’ from the strongest impulses of human nature to the highest ethical ideals of cosmopolitan friendship. Here I supplement my previous ‘ascent model’ of love in Kant with a different model, which I call the ‘expanding circle model’. This model builds on the Stoic metaphor of expanding spheres of subjective concern and affection, and highlights the continuity between Kant’s different notions of love. The two models are not mutually exclusive and rather complement each other. In conclusion, I problematise the practical import and the actual universality of Kant’s cosmopolitan notions of love.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- Abbreviations VII
- Introduction 1
- What’s So Special About Legalized Sex? (Or, How Can Two Wrongs Make a Right?) 17
- Animal Desire and Rational Nature: Kant’s Argument for Marriage and the Problem of ‘Unnatural’ Sex 35
- How to Have Good Kantian Sex 63
- Kant and Austen on Free Love 85
- Kant on Menschenliebe as a Moral Predisposition of the Mind 107
- From Self-Preservation to Cosmopolitan Friendship: Kant and the Conceptual Structure of Love 127
- Kant on Friendship and Misanthropy 149
- Friendship as a Scaffolding Duty to the Highest Good 165
- Index of Persons 187
- Index of Subjects 189
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- Abbreviations VII
- Introduction 1
- What’s So Special About Legalized Sex? (Or, How Can Two Wrongs Make a Right?) 17
- Animal Desire and Rational Nature: Kant’s Argument for Marriage and the Problem of ‘Unnatural’ Sex 35
- How to Have Good Kantian Sex 63
- Kant and Austen on Free Love 85
- Kant on Menschenliebe as a Moral Predisposition of the Mind 107
- From Self-Preservation to Cosmopolitan Friendship: Kant and the Conceptual Structure of Love 127
- Kant on Friendship and Misanthropy 149
- Friendship as a Scaffolding Duty to the Highest Good 165
- Index of Persons 187
- Index of Subjects 189
