376 Kant: A Biography
Kant argued that if progress were impossible, the trials and tribulations
of every person striving for virtue would be nothing but a farce. It would
also be repugnant to a wise Creator of the world.^181
I may be allowed to assume, therefore, that our species, progressing steadily in civi¬
lization as its natural end, is also making strides for the better in regard to the moral
end of its existence ... I rest my case on this: I have the innate duty ... so to affect
posterity through each member in the sequence of generations in which I live, simply
as a human being, that future generations will become continually better. ... I may al¬
ways be and remain unsure whether an improvement in the human race can be hoped
for; but this can invalidate neither the maxim nor its necessary presupposition that in
a practical respect it is feasible.^182
The perpetual progress to the better would, Kant assured his readers, ul¬
timately "bring the states under a cosmopolitan constitution even against
their will."^183 Though some might reject this theory as impractical, he
declared that he put his "trust in the theory that proceeds from the prin¬
ciples of justice, concerning how relations between individuals and states
ought to be." This theory has greater authority than any of the "earthly demi¬
gods" who actually rule. Ultimately they would have to submit. Kant had
taken another stand. While he rejected the right of rebellion, which some
of his followers had defended on the basis of his own theories, he also
argued against conservatism in politics. The essay was thus relevant to
Edmund Burke's discussion of the French Revolution and its merits. The
Reflections on the French Revolution of 1790, which had been translated into
German in 1791 and 1793, loomed large in the background. But first and
foremost Kant felt the need to clarify his own position, as Kantians of var¬
ious persuasions had their own views on what his theory implied about
revolution.^184
The essay was also relevant to Kant's dispute with the censors in Berlin.
It was his way of addressing Frederick William II, as one of "the earthly
demi-gods." He may not have been expecting a reply from the king, but
he did receive one in short order. While the more conservative thinkers
in Germany, especially August Wilhelm Rehberg and Friedrich Gentz,
found it necessary to answer Kant publically, the king answered by a spe¬
cial order.^183
During this period Kant also found time to work on another project,
namely on an essay in answer to a question of the Berlin Academy, "What
is the real progress that metaphysics has made since the times of Leibniz
and Wolff in Germany?"^186 Kant appears to have begun working on it some
time in November of 1793.^187 Whether Kant intended to submit the essay