Speculation, Method, and Self-Knowledge in <i>Conjectural Beginning of Human History</i>

Abstract This paper provides an account of the purpose and methodology of Conjectural Beginning of Human History (1786). I show that Kant subordinates the theoretical goal of plausibly reconstructing the origin of humankind to the practical goal of helping the reader understand herself as a moral agent that must contribute to the achievement of humankind’s moral destination. First, I show that Conjectural Beginning is an innovative instance of conjectural history. Second, I argue that its methodology involves experience, imagination, and reason, whose conjoined use explains why Kantian conjectural history fares better than others. Third, I argue that the essay contributes, through a moral exhibition of the imagination, to the reader’s moral self-knowledge and cures some misconceptions that obstruct her commitment to moral progress.