Kant on Natural Determinism and Freedom of Will: A Reconciliation

Abstract

Kant, in his essay ‘Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch’ holds that the ultimate aim of nature is to achieve perpetual peace. For Kant, nature works both mechanically and teleologically in order to achieve its ultimate aim. Moreover, he thinks that nature compels human beings mechanically to create appropriate situation (which is described by Kant in three definitive articles) for the implementation of six pre-conditions (which are mentioned by Kant in six preliminary articles) to attain perpetual peace. Thus, Kant holds mechanical determinism of nature or natural determinism to answer the question: why do human beings fulfill these two types of conditions for peace. But Kant in his moral philosophy admits freedom of will as a postulate of morality. Thus, the problem is: how does Kant reconcile mechanical determinism of nature with human being’s freedom of will. In this paper, I would attempt to explain how Kant reconciles between above two incompatible notions by means of his notion of citizen of two worlds