r: Like we can recognise Newtonian physics is limited and only applies within specific contexts/frames and start examining different ones without needing to act like he never existed.

“Kantianism — among other systems that aided white supremacy while preaching equality and dignity for all — contributed to the house in which we live, and this house turns out to be oppressive for a majority.”

Kant’s Ideas Shaped Human Rights Theories. How Do We Contend With His Racism?truthout.org The anti-Black ideas within Immanuel Kant’s philosophy show how liberalism and racism are closely intertwined.

Thanks for this, an interesting piece. I think the idea that rights and justice are already universally guaranteed by nature is one of the biggest blockers to doing anything to deliver them.

I think it’s a good premise to begin from as long as the next step is in recognizing the myriad number of ways this isn’t done in practice and being clear eyed about what would need to be done to actualize such a world. Similar to the right to life and pursuit of happiness.

A serious, a very serious commitment to the principle would necessitate things like universal housing, healthcare, and income. I think the unstated assumption of who’s considered “human” enough for those rights and who isn’t is the main blocker.

I think they operate together. The claim of already existing universality requires the conditionality to account for the existing violations.

Yeah I think that’s the tension the piece gets at and I think it’s useful in making plain that white supremacy sits at the center of the contradiction. Radical empathy and love are frameworks which I think can bridge the divide but I do appreciate more explicit demands being named.

Yes. I also appreciated it going into the fact that we can and should be able to criticise figures of the past without that meaning that they must be entirely erased from history.

Like we can recognise Newtonian physics is limited and only applies within specific contexts/frames and start examining different ones without needing to act like he never existed.

This is so important to hold, and remember. It works for every consideration of what we think (and know) when we measure progress in the human spectrum of time. I hope what I just wrote makes sense.

I am with you. It is one of those things I feel like I can hold in my head very clearly conceptually but struggle to parse into words.

Yeah I honestly think this is generally well understood and applied outside of social media. Where some people seek attention through being censorious of even mentioning flawed figures and others by lifting them up as a portent of some terrible future. Most people keep a level head I think.

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