Unsocial sociability and our predisposition to goodness: Kantian perspective

Abstract

In this paper, I shall expound Kant’s opinion about unsocial sociability and our predisposition to goodness through establishing an ethical community. Human nature, according to Kant, is predisposed to competition with other people, getting one's way despite the will of others, and rising to a higher rank or status in the eyes of others. This inclination of human nature is known by Kant as unsocial sociability. It is also known as a ‘radical evil,’ denoting that within this basic relation of interdependency, there is a tendency to act in an unsociable manner, cross others, and isolate oneself from them at the same time as being dependent on them. With this ‘unsocial sociability,’ we aim to dominate others with wealth, honour, and power. Kant identified these three things as features of human tendencies that are hard for us to subdue with reason. People make themselves sad and evil when they strive to be better than others. However, in the process, they acquire skills that benefit both human nature and human history and are passed on to subsequent generations.