Anthropology Notes

1. Summary Table of the Anthropology Notes

3. Earlier Scholarship on the Anthropology Notes

4. Textbook used in Kant’s Anthropology Lectures

5. Outline of Kant’s published Anthropology

Of the forty-seven sets of notes on anthropology, twenty are extant and sixteen more (an-Fernow, an-Forberg, an-Gotthold, Hippel, an-Königsberg, an-Mellin, an-Minerva, an-Reicke 1, an-Reicke 2, an-Starke 1, an-Starke 2, an-Starke 3, Elsner, Matuszewski, Nicolai, and Puttlich) have been preserved (in whole or in part) in copy or as publications, making a total of thirty-five sets available in whole or in part. Of these, one (Naumburg) has not been published at all.[1].

The most relevant thing to know about this large quantity of manuscript material is that many of these are related as copies of one or more other sets of notes, although often mixed with notes from later semesters. Brandt/Stark [1997] were able to determine that twenty-three of the available manuscripts fall into nine distinct groups (listed as A through J); see the table below. The most authoritative of these groups are: Collins and an-Parow (each representing a different family of notes from 1772/73), an-Friedländer (two sets of notes owned by Friedländer; WS 1775/76), an-Pillau (1777/78), an-Starke (1781/82?), Mrongovius (WS 1784/85?), Busolt (1788/89?), Dohna-Wundlacken (1791/92, although 40% is identical with the 1772/73 Brauer notes), and Reichel (1793/94). See also the Anthropology lectures.

NB: Kant’s 1798 Anthropology [writings] was prepared from a manuscript written in his hand (the “Rostock ms” — now available online, courtesy of the Universitätsbibliothek Rostock), from which a fair copy was made by an (unknown) amanuensis to be sent to the printer’s; presumably none of the following sets of students notes were used in its preparation.[2]

[1] An additional manuscript, referred to as the “Messina-Anthropologie” [Lehmann, AA 24:973], is in fact a set of notes on physical geography (an-Messina) and so is included in that list.

[2] On the relationship between this manuscript and the published 1798 Anthropologie, see Stark [1993, 48] and Brandt [1999a].

The Anthropology Notes [top]

Manuscript	Location	A	Date	Published	Translations
(1) an-Berlin 1	Berlin	‡	1791/92	AA 25: 1559*
(2) an-Dingelstaedt	Helsinki	‡	1784/85	AA 25: 1560*
(3) an-Elbing	NA (Kön.)
(4) an-Fernow	NA	-	1781/82?
(5) an-Forberg	NA	-	1781/82?	Forberg
(6) an-Friedländer 1	Berlin	‡	1775/76	AA 25 (var.)
(7) an-Friedländer 4.3	Berlin	‡	1775/76	AA 25: 469-728	Wood/Louden; Sánchez Rodríguez; Silva 2016
(8) an-Gotthold 1	NA (Kön.)	-	1791/92?	Schlapp*; AA 25: 1561
(9) an-Hamilton	Glasgow	‡	1772/73	AA 25 (var.)
(10) an-Hippel 1	NA	-		Hippel
(11) an-Jacobi	NA (Kön.)
(12) an-Klotz	Berlin	‡	1784/85
(13) an-Königsberg 1	NA (Kön.)	-	1792/93?	Ak: 15:158; 25: 1562
(14) an-Marienburg	Berlin	‡	1784/85	AA 25 (var.)
(15) an-Mellin	NA	-	1772/73 + 81/82	Mellin
(16) an-Minerva	NA	-		Minerva; AA 15:580-84
(17) an-Ostpreuß. Reg.	NA (Kön.)
(18) an-Parow	Berlin	‡	1772/73	AA 25: 243-463	Wood/Louden*
(19) an-Petersburg	St. Peters.	‡	1781/82	AA 25 (var.)	Sánchez Rodríguez*
(20) an-Pillau 1	Berlin	‡	1777/78	AA 25: 733-847	Wood/Louden; Sánchez Rodríguez
(21) an-Pockels 1	NA
(22) an-Prieger	Berlin	‡	1775/76	AA 25 (var.)
(23) an-Reicke 1	NA (Kön.)	-	1789/90?	Schlapp*
(24) an-Reicke 2	NA (Kön.)	-		Schlapp*
(25) an-Reimarus	NA
(26) an-Reinhold	NA
(27) an-Starke 1	NA	‡	1781/82	Bergk 1831a, AA 25: 853-1203	Wood/Louden; Sánchez Rodríguez; Silva 2015; Silva 2016
(28) an-Starke 2	NA	‡		Bergk 1831b, AA 25: 1563-64
(29) an-Starke 3	NA	-		Bergk 1826
(30) Brauer 1	Berlin	‡	1772/73	Schlapp*; AA 25 (var.)
(31) Busolt 1	Berlin	+	1788/89?	AA 25: 1435-1531	Sánchez Rodríguez*
(32) Collins 1	Riga	‡	1772/73	AA 25: 7-238	Wood/Louden; García Mayo; Sánchez Rodríguez
(33) Dohna-Schlob. 1	NA
(34) Dohna-Wundl. 1	(Bentheim?)	‡	1791/92 + 72/73	Kowalewski 1924; AA 25 (var.)
(35) Elsner	NA (Kön.)	-	1792/93?	Schlapp; AA 25: 1560-1
(36) Euchel	Riga	‡	1772/73 (82/83?)	AA 25 (var.)
(37) Flottwell	NA (Kön.)		1775/76
(38) Matuszewski	NA (Kön.)	‡	1772/73 (91/92?)	Kowalewski 1925, 2000; AA 25: 1561-2
(39) Mrongovius 1	Gdansk	‡	1784/85 + 72/73	AA 25: 1209-1429	Aramayo; Wood/Louden; Sánchez Rodríguez; Silva 2016
(40) Naumburg	Marburg	‡
(41) Nicolai 1	NA	+	1775/76	Schlapp*
(42) Philippi 1	Berlin	‡	1772/73	AA 25 (var.)
(43) Pohl	NA (Kön.)		1775/76
(44) Puttlich 1	NA (Kön.)	-	1781/82	Schlapp*
(45) Reichel	Berlin	‡	1793/94?	Schlapp*; AA 25: 1553-57
(46) von Schön 1	NA
(47) Weber	NA		1781/82

Abbreviations: A: availability [‡ = the set of notes (either as manuscript or in printed form) appears to be complete, + = a large fragment of the original text is still available, - = a small fragment of the original text is available, (no sign) = none of the original text is available], * = only part of the available text was printed/translated, AA = Akademie-Ausgabe, an = anonymous, (c) = published from a copy, Kön = Königsberg, NA () = not available (last known location), rpt. = reprint of, var = published as a variant reading.

Bibliography: Aramayo: Roberto Aramayo Rodriguez, ed. and transl., Antropologia práctica (Según el manuscrito inédita de C. C. Mrongovius, fechado en 1785 (Madrid 1990). Bergk 1826: Taschenbuch für Menschenkenntnis und Menschenverbesserung nach Hippel, Wieland, Sterne, Helvetius, Shakespeare und Kant. Mit einer Abhandlung über Menschenkenntniß (Leipzig). Bergk 1831a: Friedrich Christian Starke, ed., Immanuel Kant’s Menschenkunde oder philosophische Anthropologie. Nach handschriftlichen Vorlesungen (Leipzig: Expedition des europäischen Aufsehers). Bergk 1831b: Friedrich Christian Starke, ed., Anweis zur Menschen- und Weltkenntniss. Nach dessen Vorlesungen im Winterhalbjähre von 1790-1791. (Leipzig: Expedition des europäischen Aufsehers). Forberg: Friedrich Carl Forberg, Der Mensch, oder Compendiöse Bibliothek des Wissenswürdigsten von der Natur und Bestimmung des Menschen, und von der Geschichte der Menschheit, Heft II: Seelenlehre (Eisenach and Halle: Johann Jacob Gebauer, 1796). García Mayo: Immanuel Kant, Antropología Collins. Translation into Spanish by Alejandro García Mayo. (Madrid: Escolar y Mayo, 2012). Hippel: Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel, Lebensläufe in absteigender Linie nebst Beylagen A, B, C (Berlin: Voß, 1778-81). Kowalewski 1924: Arnold Kowalewski, Die philosophischen Hauptvorlesungen Immanuel Kants. Nach den aufgefundenen Kollegheften des Grafen Heinrich zu Dohna-Wundlacken (München and Leipzig, 1924). Kowalewski 1925: Arnold and Elisabeth-Maria Kowalewski, “Aus Kants Vorlesungen über Anthropologie nach einem ungedruckten Kollegheft vom Wintersemester 1791-1792,” in Philosophischer Kalender für das Jahr 1925 (Berlin), pp. 61-93. Kowalewski 2000: Arnold Kowalewski, Kant-Volksausgabe, Bd. 1. Edited by Sabina Laetitia Kowalewski and Werner Stark as vol. 12 of Kant-Forschungen (Hamburg: Meiner, 2000). Mellin: Georg Samuel Albert Mellin, Encyclopädisches Wörterburch der kritischen Philosophie, 11 vols. (Züllichau, Jena, & Leipzig, 1797-1804). Minerva: (1809). Sánchez Rodríguez: Immanuel Kant, Lecciones de Antropología. Fragmentos de estética y antropología. Translated into Spanish and edited by Manuel Sánchez Rodríguez (Granada: Editorial Comares, 2015). Schlapp: Otto Schlapp, Kants Lehre vom Genie und die Entstehung der “Kritik der Urteilskraft” (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1901). Silva 2015: Immanuel Kant, “Do Génio.” [Portuguese; “On Genius”] Translated and introduced by Fernando M. F. Silva. Estudos Kantianos 3.2 (2015): 211-32. Silva 2016: Immanuel Kant, “As representações obscuras. Lições de Antropologia de Immanuel Kant.” [Portuguese; “Obscure representations. Immanuel Kant's Lectures on Anthropology”] Translated and introduced by Fernando M. F. Silva. Con-Textos Kantianos 4 (2016): 296-304. Wood/Louden: Immanuel Kant, Lectures on Anthropology, edited by Allen W. Wood and Robert B. Louden, transl. by Robert R. Clewis, Robert B. Louden, G. Felicitas Munzel, and Allen W. Wood (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012).

Families of Student Notes [list of notes] [top]

As determined by the research of Brandt and Stark [1997], twenty-three of the manuscripts fall into nine distinct groups (A through J), based on commonality of the semester of origin and the original set of source notes. Seven sets of notes are published in their entirety in AA 25; these were considered the most authoritative for the family to which they belong, and are put in bold-type and bracketed in the table below. Many of the manuscripts contain text from more than one source-lecture or original set of notes, and this is indicated parenthetically.

Detailed information on the various sets of notes is available in vol. 25 of the Academy edition (1997); see especially AA 25: cxxxiii-cli; a table summarizing the relationship between the texts is provided on p. lxxxviii.

1772/73 [A]

• [Collins 1]

• Philippi 1 (Also belongs to B. Philippi attended the lectures during 1772/73.)

• an-Hamilton (Follows Parow until ms p. 109, after which it follows Collins.)

• Brauer 1 (Also belongs to B.)

• Mrongovius 1 (Marginalia from A; the main body of notes are F.)

1772/73 [B]

• [an-Parow]

• an-Hamilton (Also belongs to A; see the note there.)

• Euchel (Some material from the beginning and marginalia may come from 1782/83.)

• Philippi 1 (Also belongs to A.)

• Brauer 1 (Also belongs to A.)

• Dohna-Wundlacken 1 (About 40% of the notes closely resemble the corresponding passages in Brauer.)

1775/76 [C]

• [an-Friedländer 1]

• [an-Friedländer 4.3] (The two Friedländer texts are essentially two copies of the same text, although the first is missing a group of pages.)

• an-Prieger (After ms p. 205, the notes appear to stem from 1777/78.)

• Flottwell

• Nicolai 1

• Pohl

1788/89 (?) [G]

• [Busolt 1] (Busolt may have attended these lectures.)

• an-Dingelstaedt

1791/92 (?) [H]

• Dohna-Wundlacken 1 (Dohna likely attended the lectures this semester; about 40% of the notes are identical to Brauer and stem from 1772/73.)

1793/94 (?) [J]

• Reichel (Reichel may have attended these lectures.)

Earlier Scholarship on the Anthropology Notes [list of notes] [top]

Erich Adickes used nineteen sets of notes in preparing volume 15 of the Academy edition (Kant’s reflections on anthropology, and his various scraps of notes that he likely used during his lectures). Fragments from the notes are scattered throughout Adickes’s footnotes to vol. 15. Each title is followed by the number assigned to it by Adickes (AA 15: vii-viii): (1) an-Friedländer 4.3, (2) Brauer 1, (3) Busolt 1, (4) Collins 1, (5) Mrongovius 1, (6) Elsner, (7) Flottwell, (8) an-Gotthold 1, (9) an-Königsberg 1, (10) Matuszewski, (11) an-Ostpreußische Regierung, (12) an-Parow, (13) Philippi 1, (14) Pohl, (15) Puttlich 1, (16) Reichel. (17) an-Reicke 2, (18) an-Reicke 1, and (19) an-Starke 1 (only as published).

Otto Schlapp [1901] had access to notes on anthropology, logic, and metaphysics — twenty-six sets of notes in all, with fifteen on anthropology (in addition to the published versions of an-Starke 1 and an-Starke 2): an-Friedländer 1, an-Friedländer 4.3, an-Gotthold 1, an-Königsberg 1, an-Parow, an-Prieger, an-Reicke 1, an-Reicke 2, Brauer 1, Elsner, Flottwell, Nicolai 1, Pohl, Puttlich 1, and Reichel [1901, 8-17].

Textbook used in Kant’s anthropology Lectures [list of notes] [top]

From WS 1772/3 on Kant used A. G. Baumgarten, Metaphysica, pars III (“Psychologia”), ed. IV (Halle: 1757) (reprinted at AA 15:3-54) in his anthropology lectures. The texts of the lecture-notes show that, from the mid-1770’s, only the first part of the course follows the paragraphs of Baumgarten. The second part, called "Charakteristik" in the 1798 Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, includes some themes that appeared in Kant’s 1764 essay on “The Beautiful and the Sublime” [writings], but on the whole appears to be drawn from the third part of his original outline for his lectures on physical geography.

Baumgarten devotes the third part of his Metaphysics to psychology, beginning with a brief introduction ( “Prolegomena,” §§ 501-503) and a chapter on empirical psychology (§§504-739) and rational psychology (§§740-799). The anthropology lectures were based on the empirical psychology chapter, divided by Baumgarten into twenty-two sections: (1) existence of the soul, (2) lower cognitive faculties, (3) sense, (4) fantasy, (5) wit, (6) memory, (7) fictive faculty, (8) anticipation, (9) judgment, (10) expectation, (11) characterization, (12) understanding, (13) reason, (14) indifference, (15) pleasure and displeasure, (16) faculty of desire, (17) lower faculty of desire, (18) higher faculty of desire, (19) spontaneity, (20) power of choice, (21) freedom, (22) interaction between body and soul.

Kant’s published Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View (1798) [list of notes] [top]

Anthropologie in pragmatischer Hinsicht / abgefaßt von Immanuel Kant / Königsberg / bei Friedrich Nicolovius / 1798. (xiv, 334pp); 2nd corrected edition: (Königsberg: Friedrich Nicolovius, 1800; xvi, 332pp). [English follows the Mary Gregor translation]

Erster Teil. Anthropologische Didaktik [Part 1. Anthropological didactic]

Erstes Buch. Vom Erkenntnisvermögen [Book 1. On the cognitive powers]

§1. Vom Bewußtsein seiner selbst [On self-consciousness]

§2. Vom Egoism [On Egoism]

§3. Vom wirklichen Bewußtsein seiner Vorstellungen [On voluntary consciousness of our ideas]

§4. Vom Beobachten seiner selbst [On Observing Oneself]

§5. Von den Vorstellungen, die wir haben, ohne uns ihrer bewußt zu sein [On ideas that we have without being conscious of them]

§6. Von der Deutlichkeit und Undeutlichkeit im Bewußtsein seiner Vorstellungen [On distinctness and indistinctness in consciousness of our ieas]

§7. Von der Sinnlichkeit im Gegensatz mit dem Verstande [On sensibility as contrasted with understanding]

§§8-11. Apologie der Sinnlichkeit [Apology for sensibility]

§12. Vom Können in Ansehung des Erkennntnisvermögens überhaupt [On ability with regard to the cognitive powers in general]

§13. Von dem künstlichen Spiel mit dem Sinnenschein [On artificial play with sensory semblance]

§14. Von dem erlaubten moralischen Schein [On permissible moral semblance]

§§15-23. Von den fünf äußern Sinnen [On the five senses]

§24. Vom inneren Sinn [On inner sense]

§25. Von den Ursachen der Vermehrung oder Verminderung der Sinnenempfindungen dem Grade nach [On the causes that increase or decrease the intensity of our sense impressions]

§§26-30. Von der Hemmung, Schwächung und dem gänzlichen Verluste des Sinnenvermögens [On the inhibition, weakening, and total loss of the sense powers]

§§31-33. Von dem sinnlichen Dichtungsvermögen nach seinen vershiedenen Arten [On the constructive power belonging to sensibility according to its various forms]

§§34-36. Von dem Vermögen der Vergegenwärtigung des Vergangenen und Künftigen durch die Einbildungskraft [On the power of bringing the past and the future to mind by imagination]

§37. Von der unwillkürlichen Dichtung im gesunden Zustande, d.i. vom Traume [On involuntary invention in a state of health — that is, on dreaming]

§§38-39. vom Bezeichungsvermögen [On the power of using signs]

§40. Vom Erkenntnisvermögen, so fern es auf Verstand gegründet wird [On the cognitive power insofar as it is based on understanding]

§§41-44. [Anthropological comparison of the three higher cognitive powers with one another]

§§45-53. Von den Schwächen und Krankheiten der Seele in Ansehung ihres Erkenntnisvermögens [On deficiencies and diseases of the soul with respect to its cognitive power]

§§54-59. Von den Talenten im Erkenntnisvermögen, dem Witze, der Sagazität und der Originalität, oder dem Genie [On talents in the cognitive power, wit, sagacity, and orginality, or on genius]

Zweites Buch. Vom Gefühl der Lust und Unlust [Book 2. The feeling of pleasure and displeasure]

Von der sinnlichen Lust [On sensuous pleasure]

§60-66. A. Vom Gefühl für das Angeneme, oder der sinnlichen Lust in der Empfindung eines Gegenstandes [On the feeling for the agreeable, or sensuous pleasure in the sensation of an object]

§§67-72. B. Vom Gefühl für das Schöne, oder dem Geschmack [On the feeling for the beautiful, or taste]

Drittes Buch. Vom Behehrungsvermögen [Book 3. On the appetitive power]

§§73-79. Von den Affekten [On affects]

§§80-86. Von den Leidenschaften [On the passions]

§§87-88. Von dem höchsten physischen Gut [On the highest physical good]

§Von dem höchsten moralisch-physischen Gut [On the highest moral-physical good]

Zweiter Teil. Anthropologische Charakteristik [Part 2. Anthropological characterization. On how to discern man’s inner self from his exterior.]

A. Vom Charakter der Person [The character of the person]

1. Vom Naturell [On (a person’s) nature]

2. Vom Temperament [On temperament]

3. Vom Charakter als der Denkungsart [On character as a way of thinking]

Von der Physiognomik [On physiognomy]

B. Vom Charakter des Geschlechts [On the character of the sexes]

C. Vom Charakter des Volks [On the character of nations]

D. Vom Charakter der Rasse [On the character of races]

E. Vom Charakter der Gattung [On the character of the species]

Schilderung des Charakters der Menschengattung [Description of the character of the human species]

THE MANUSCRIPTS

(1) anonymous-Berlin 1 [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Hardbound quarto volume (17 x 19.5 cm); 229 pp. On the spine: “Kants / Anthopologie”. In red ink on the endpaper: “Eigentum der Kantcommission.” On the title page (very ornate): “Kant’s / anthropologische Vorlesungen. / Konigsberg the 1st August 1791.”

Text very neatly written and well spaced, with highly ornate titling and headings. Catchwords used throughout. Narrow margins, and sometimes no margins, with parts of words ocassionally obliterated (the pages had clearly been trimmed when the book was bound). No marginalia, with some corrections in the text. Unpaginated (odd numbered pages were numbered later).

The paper bears a Trutenau watermark. At the bottom of p. 152 is a flourish and the date: “11 [?] Octr. 1791.”[1]

On p. 153 is a new title-page: “Kant’s / anthropologische Vorlesungen / Königsberg the 1st Septr. 1791” (similar in appearance to the first title-page), the backside of this sheet is blank, then an ornate heading on p. 155: “Practischer Theil, / der / Anthropologie.”, the backside again blank, then with one-half page of text on p. 229, with p. 230 blank, and a column of small handwriting on p. 231 (a list of topics); p. 232 is blank, following by 14 blank sheets.

This manuscript has been in the possession of the Berlin Akademie since the beginning of the 20th century; its provenance is not known, but the odd spelling found in the manuscript suggests that the author’s mother tongue was English, rather than German. The text stems presumably from the beginning of the 1790s, although some passages appear to stem from WS 1772/73. Approximate word count: 43,000.

[1] October 11, 1791, was the Tuesday before the first anthropology lecture for WS 1791/92. The August 1 date on the title is a Monday, in the latter half of SS 1791; the date on the second title-page (September 1, 1791), was a Thursday, also during SS 1791 — these dates presumably mark either the purchase of the manuscript or the end of copying the notes.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, Ak-Archiv (NL-Kant 8).

(2) Film: Göttingen, AdW.

(3) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 20).

(4) Photo: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 2).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 1559]. A few passages.

(2) anonymous-Dingelstaedt [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Bound volume; 133 pp. On the title page: “Die / Antropologie / von / Herrn Professor Kant / in / Königsberg”. To the bottom-right: “Johann Ernst Dingelstaedt”. Ms. 3-4 contains a table of contents, with the notes beginning on ms. 5. All in the same hand. Pagination also appears to stem from the original copyist. Text is legible, with slightly ornate headings, and margins about one-fifth the page width. No marginalia or catchwords. Written in the same hand as an-Klotz, and on paper with the same watermark.

Johann Ernst Dingelstaedt (1773-1830) began his studies in Jena (1793), and later served as a pastor in Dahlen (Livland). This and a set of physical geography notes (Hesse) were given to the university library in 1829 by the Livland Baron H. J. von Boije (1780-1850), having previously belonged to an uncle on his mother’s side: Johann Danckwart (1747-1803).[1] Approximate word count: 25,000.

[1] 'Dingelstaedt' does not appear in the matriculation records of the university. A 'Johann Danckwart' makes an appearance, but not one that would match these life dates.

Location

(1) Ms: Helsinki/Finland, University Library (D.I.18).

(2) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 1).

(3) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 3).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 1560]. One passage.

Dating

Shares text with both Mrongovius 1 (1784/85) and Busolt 1 (1788/89).

(3) anonymous-Elbing [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

All that we know of this manuscript comes from the entry in Menzer’s 1912 list of extant Nachschriften: “Beitrag zur Philosophie des Lebens mit Widmung an den Herrn Commercienrath Schmidt. Elbing 1791”. 40 pp.

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Ms. 2585). Lost.

(4) anonymous-Fernow [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

We learn from the correspondence of Carl Ludwig Fernow (1763-1808) that he possessed part of a copy of anthropology lecture notes. In 1797 he was hoping to supplement his fragment with a copy of a set owned by Karl Leonhard Reinhold (1758-1823), a popularizer of Kant’s philosophy. In Fernow’s copy of Kant’s published Anthropologie [1798] which he had bound with blank pages interleaved, we find handwritten passages that are most closely related to an-Starke 1, an-Petersburg, and Matuszewski. These passages are the “Copy” listed below. See also an-Reinhold, below.

Location

(1) Ms: lost.

(2) Copy: Selections written by Fernow into his copy of Kant’s 1798 Anthropologie. Privately owned by Wolfgang Benn (Weinheim).

Dating

There are similarities with the notes from Group E (WS 1781/82).

(5) anonymous-Forberg [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Friedrich Carl Forberg (1770-1848) published a small book on human psychology and anthropology in which he made use of set of notes from Kant’s lectures on anthropology that “had been in his possession for a few years” [1796, 18] and which he interspersed throughout his discussion, inserting the quoted texts in square brackets.

Location

(1) Ms: lost.

(2) Photocopy of book: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 1).

Publications

(1) Forberg [1796, 22-73]. Brief selections.

Dating

There are similarities with the notes from Group E (WS 1781/82).

(6) anonymous-Friedländer 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

1 [Adickes]; An-Friedländer 2; Ms. 399 [Brandt/Stark 1997].

Physical Description and History

Bound quarto volume; 776 pp. On the spine: “Anthropologie von I. Kant”; on the title page: “Zum Geschenk für meinen lieben / Bruder David Friedlander von / seinem / ergebenen Bruder / Simon Friedlander / Kbrg den 29t Augt / 1782.” Margins are one-fourth the page width, with almost no marginalia. The handwriting is neat and well-spaced. Catchwords are used throughout. The pages are numbered by the original copyist. Ms. 105-44 are missing from the volume (a signature appears to have been removed). Written in the same hand as a 2nd set of anthropology notes, an-Friedländer 4.3 and these two sets of notes are identical, with the exception of copy errors; they are almost certainly the product of a professional copyist. The title-page indicates that Simon Friedländer gave the notes as a present, on 29 August 1782 to his brother David. It appears to be identical to Pohl except for copy errors and some minor omissions. Approximately 87,000 words.

David Joachim Friedländer [bio], owned lecture notes on physical geography, moral philosophy, philosophical encyclopedia, and physics, apart from the two sets of notes on anthropology.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, SBPK Haus II (Ms. germ. quart. 399).

(2) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 5).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997]. Manuscript pagination is in normal-face square brackets, corresponding to ms. 3-776 (although with pp. 105-44 missing, as noted above). The an-Friedländer 4.3 manuscript pagination is in bold-face square brackets. With variant readings from Prieger.

Dating

WS 1775/76 (Group C).

(7) anonymous-Friedländer 4.3 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

1 [Adickes], Berliner [Adickes 1923], Marburger Anthropologie [Lehmann 1972], An-Friedländer 3.3, Ms. 400 [Brandt/Stark 1997].

Physical Description and History

Bound quarto volume, 840 pp. Title on the spine: “Phylosophische Encycopädie aus den Vorlesungen von I. Kant”. The volume contains four texts: (1) philosophical encyclopedia notes (an-Friedländer 4.1), (2) a nine-page student essay originating from one of Kant’s metaphysics lectures, (3) anthropology notes (an-Friedländer 4.3), and (4) physics notes (an-Friedländer 4.4). Each manuscript is paginated separately.

There is no separate title-page for the notes, which are identical to the an-Friedländer 1 notes, with the exception of copy errors, and are almost certainly the product of a professional copyist.

David Joachim Friedländer [bio], owned lecture notes on physical geography, moral philosophy, philosophical encyclopedia, and physics, and a second set of anthropology notes (an-Friedländer 1, above) apart from this set.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, SBPK, Haus II (Ms. germ. quart. 400, 3).

(2) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 25).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 469-728]. Manuscript pagination is in bold-face square brackets, corresponding to ms. 1-840. The an-Friedländer 1 manuscript pagination is in normal-face square brackets; with variant readings from Prieger.

(2) Wood/Louden [2012, 47-255]. Translation into English by G. Felicitas Munzel of AA 25: 469-728 (complete).

(3) Silva, Fernando M. F. [2013]. Translation into Portuguese of AA 25: 675-97.

Dating

WS 1775/76 (Group C).

(8) anonymous-Gotthold 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

Anthropologie 1791-92 [Schlapp 1901], 8 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Two quarto volumes: 412 pp and 315 pp. “Vorlesung über die Anthropologie von Herrn Professor Kant. Königsberg, d. 12. October 1791 bis d. 10. Maertz 1792”. The dates are the first and last lectures on anthropology for WS 1791/92. Schlapp describes and discusses this manuscript [1901, 15-16, 392-3]. These volumes had once belonged to the library of Friedrich August Gotthold [bio].

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Gotthold, Ub 1 (G)). Lost.

Publications

(1) Schlapp [1901, 16, 246n, 261, 392-93]. Fragments. [pdf]

(2) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 1561]. Reprint of Schlapp fragments [1901, 16, 246n].

(9) anonymous-Hamilton [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Bound volume; 263 pp. On the title page: “Anthropologie / von / Emanuel Kant.” Margins about one-fifth the page width, marked by a crease. Pagination appears to stem from the copyist. Writing is neat, and catchwords are used throughout. This manuscript was found by Raymond Klibanski (correspondence with Julius Ebbinghaus). According to David Weston (Glasgow, 17 Dec. 1992), the Glasgow library obtained the volume in 1878 as part of the collection of books of the Edinburgh Professor of Logic and Metaphysics, Sir William Hamilton (1788-1856). Approximate word count: 60,000.

Location

(1) Ms: Glasgow/Scotland, University Library (MS Hamilton 59).

(2) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 21).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark (1997; as variant readings to Collins 1 and an-Parow).

Dating

WS 1772/73 (Groups A and B).

The text is identical to an-Parow (pp. 1-116) up until p. 109, after which it is identical to Collins 1 (pp. 77-205).

(10) anonymous-Hippel 1 [list of notes] [top]

History

The one-time existence of these notes has been inferred from the published writings of Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel [bio] that appear to draw on material from Kant’s lectures. Hippel practiced law in Königsberg, wrote novels anonymously, and was a close companion of Kant’s. He had matriculated at the Albertina on July 27, 1756[1] (first in theology, later in law), and reports that he attended Kant’s classes as a student during SS 1758 and WS 1758-59, and there is a strong likelihood that he possessed several sets of notes from Kant’s lectures, since materials from the anthropology, metaphysics, moral philosophy, and philosophical encyclopedia lectures occasionally made their way into his published novels, such as his 1350 page Lebensläufe in absteigender Linie nebst Beylagen A, B, C (Berlin: Voß, 1778, 1779, 1781), a three volume work in four parts (repr. Leipzig 1859).

An anonymously written letter sent from Königsberg and dated December 28, 1780, appeared in the Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek (1780, vol. 44) claiming that the anonymous author (Hippel) had plagiarized Kant, and that the expressions and definitions he had used clearly came from Kant’s lectures, rather than from his published writings; that the author must therefore have attended Kant’s classes and taken notes; and that part one of the Lebensläufe primarily has material from the anthropology lectures, and part two from the metaphysics lectures. A year earlier, Hamann had written to Herder that Kant was finding hundreds of references to his lectures in the Lebensläufe (21 February 1779 [Henkel 1959, 4: 55], repr. Malter [1990, 154]). Indeed, so much of Kant’s thoughts appeared in Hippel’s writings that there was open speculation whether Kant was indeed the author, or at least co-author.

After Hippel’s death, Kant published an open letter (dated 6 December 1796 [Ak 12:360-61; repr. Malter 1990, 430-1]) [writings] in which he denied any participation in the writings, suggested that Hippel had access to various notebooks from his lectures, and that since these notes often contained popular materials, Hippel was able to make good use of them; furthermore, since they were so widely available, he used them just as one might any other public commodity, and without intention of plagiarism (here Kant was clearly interested in preserving Hippel’s name).[2]

A close study of Hippel’s use of the anthropology notes in the Lebensläufe can be found in Lindemann-Stark [1990]. No similar comparison with the metaphysics lectures has been made.[3]

[1] Erler [1911-12, 2: 462]: (27 Jul 1756) “Hippel Theodor. Gottlieb, Gerdaven. Boruss.”.

[2] See also Stuckenberg’s characterization of Hippel [1882, 206-7] and Gause [1996, 258-59]. Schlapp [1901, 435] notes that Rosenkranz downplays the claim that certain epistemological propositions found in Hippel’s novel foreshadow Kant’s critical philosophy; see the Rosenkranz/Schubert edition of Kant’s writings [1838-40, 12: 287].

[3] See also Lehmann [1966; AA 24:958-9] and Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: lvi-lvii].

Dating

The relevant passages found in Hippel’s writings likely stem from WS 1772/73.

(11) anonymous-Jacobi [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Our only information comes from Menzer’s 1912 list: “Versuch eines Beitrags zur Philosophie des Lebens. Königsberg. 1789 mit Widmung des ‘Verfassers’ an den Herrn Geheimten-Rath Jacobi.”, 43 pp.

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Ms. 2584). Lost.

(12) anonymous-Klotz [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Half-leather large quarto volume (21 x 25 cm), 130 pages, numbered by the author. On the title page: “Die Antropologie / vom / Herrn Professor Kant / in / Königsberg.”; p. 2 is a table of contents. Neatly written in brown ink, with no abbreviations and only occasional corrections, and with a creased right-hand margin (5.5 cm); occasional additions by a second hand. No indication of the semester or the author, or of any previous owner — although Stark was able to determine that it is the same author as wrote an-Dingelstaedt and is written on paper with the same watermark. Some underlining in the same brown ink, as well as a later underlining (and marginal markings) in a reddish-brown pencil or crayon.

The manuscript had been privately held in Stuttgart, and came to the attention of Werner Stark in 2006, who inspected it, and was subsequently acquired by the Staatsbibliothek preussischer Kulturbesitz/Berlin (May 2011) – see Heydeck [2016, 256-57]. No other information regarding its provenance is known.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, SBPK Haus II (Ms. germ. quart 2371).

Publications

[none.]

Dating

Related to an-Dingelstaedt, which shares text with both Mrongovius 1 (1784/85) and Busolt 1 (1788/89).

(13) anonymous-Königsberg 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

9 [Adickes], Königsberg 4 [Brandt/Stark 1997].

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume, 113 sheets. “I. Kants Vorlesungen über die Anthropologie im Winter 1792.” This manuscript was used by Adickes [1913b; 1923, vii] and Schlapp [1901, 16]. Schlapp viewed both this and Elsner as possibly being notes written in the classroom.

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Ms. 1730). Lost.

Publications

(1) Adickes [1913; AA 15:158]. Reprinted in Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 1562]. Fragment.

(14) anonymous-Marienburg [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Half-leather quarto volume (16.5 x 19.75 cm), 215 sheets (plus the front endpaper and the title page), a total of 429 pp. of text. On the title page: “Antropologische Vorlesung / von / Herrn Professor Emanuell Kant / zu / Königsberg in Preußen / Im Winter 1792-93.” At the end, on the front side of sheet 215: “d. 13ten August 1800 zu Marienburg”. On the inside of the front cover: “Geschenk des Kaufmanns / J. A. Köhler, zu Schwetz, / der dieses Buch als Makulatur er / stand.” In the same hand, on the backside of the front endpaper: “J. Hiltmann, / Rector / Schwetz a/W.”[1] An ornate triple-R stamp in purple is found on the endpapers. An evaluation of the manuscript by Alois Riehl (1844-1924) is glued between the title page and the first page of text, dated “Berlin 1. August” — presumably 1915, the year it was acquired by the Berlin Staatsbibliothek (at the top of the title page is an acquisition note: “acc. ms. 1915.30”). Text is neatly written and well-spaced. No marginalia in the 3 cm. creased margin. Sheets are paginated by a later librarian. Approximate word count: 55,000. This manuscript is a close variant to Mrongovius 1, and presumably was copied from it.

[1] Schwetz is a small, old city on the Weichsel, north of Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) in what was once West Prussia; the Polish name is Swiecie.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, SBPK, Haus II (Ms. germ. quart. 1565).

(2) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 7).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; as variant reading to Mrongovius 1].

Dating

WS 1784/85 (Group F).

(15) anonymous-Mellin [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Georg Samuel Albert Mellin (1755-1825), a preacher from Magdeburg, published a dictionary of critical philosophy (1797-1804) in which he made use of one (or possibly two) sets of notes from Kant’s anthropology lectures. The passages appearing in the dictionary resemble text primarily from an-Starke 1 and Collins 1 (see the list of comparisons at AA 25: cxxxviii).

Location

(1) Ms: Lost.

Publications

(1) Mellin [1797-1804]. Selected passages; available on the Marburg Kant Archive website.

Dating

The texts derives from two manuscripts: one from Group A (WS 1772/73), the other from Group E (WS 1781/82).

(16) anonymous-Minerva [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Adickes reports that a number of fragments concerning the difference between the sexes was printed on pp. 204-8 of the 1809 volume of the journal Minerva[1] under the heading “Bemerkungen über das männliche und weibliche Geschlecht, von Kant.” He reprinted this text as anthropology reflections #1319-42 [AA 15:580-84] — thus as Kant’s own writings — noting, however, that reflections #1319-26 bear a strong resemblance to Puttlich 1 (ms. 311ff.) and an-Starke 1 (pp. 358ff.), and so are perhaps better thought of as stemming from Kant’s lecture rather than from Kant’s own pen (see AA 15:580, lines 15-28).

[1] Minerva appeared from 1792 to 1858, and was edited by J. W. von Archenholz (until 1809), F. A. Bran (since 1810), and J. A. Bergk (1811-13).

Location

(1) Ms: Lost.

Publications

(1) Minerva. Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1809 (Leipzig: Gerhard Fleischer d.J.): “Bemerkungen über das männliche und weibliche Geschlecht, von Kant,” pp. 203-8 (excerpts). [pdf]

(2) AA 15:580-84. Reprint of fragments found in (1). [pdf]

(17) anonymous-Ostpreußische Regierung [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

11 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume, 284 pp. Without title. Described and used by Adickes [1923; AA 15], and included on Menzer’s 1912 list.

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, Bibliothek der Ospreußischen Regierung. Lost.

(18) anonymous-Parow [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

12 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Bound paper quarto volume (17 x 19.5 cm), 352 pp. A gray-green paper cover, without endpapers. On the title page: “Immanuel Kants / der Logik und Metaphysik ordentl: Prof: / Vorlesungen / über / Die Antropologie”; on the inside of the front cover: “Dr. Parow” (a “No 25” is crossed out in the same ink as Parow’s name). Very neatly written and well-spaced, paginated by the copyist, and with a 3.5 cm creased margin. Catchwords are used throughout. The text is followed by one blank sheet, making a total of 177 sheets. Approximate word count: 67,000.

Adickes [1923; AA 15:viii] reported that this manuscript belonged to the “Parow Collection” of a library in Halle (Bibliothek der Städtischen Oberrealschule, Halle a. d. Saale; Parow’sche Bibliothek). In 1945 that library was dissolved. The book collector was Dr. phil. Franz Parow (30 Sep 1852 - 13 Sep 1886 [Halle a. d. Saale]), the 5th child of Dr. med. Karl Andreas Wilhelm Parow (10 Apr 1817 [Greifswald] - 13 Aug 1894 [Weimar]), who was the 8th child and 2nd son of Dr. theol. Johann Ernst Daniel Parow (17 May 1771 [Wismar] - 20 Feb 1836 [Greifswald]) and Anne Johanne Gottliebe Schlegel (21 Aug 1775 [Riga] - 10 May 1852 [Greifswald]), who were married in 1802. Anne was the daughter of Gottlieb Schlegel [bio], who had studied at Königsberg (although not with Kant), and then lectured there alongside Kant from 1763-65, as well as teaching at the Collegium Fridericianum. This suggests that the manuscript was passed down through the Schlegel/Parow family, as Schlegel was occupied in his writings with the Kantian philosophy.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, Ak-Archiv (NL-Kant 11).

(2) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 20).

(3) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 8).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 243-463], with variant readings from Euchel, Brauer, Hamilton, Philippi, Collins, and Dohna.

(2) Wood/Louden [2012, 31-36]. Translation into English by Allen W. Wood of AA 25: 243-49, 437-38 (excerpts).

Dating

WS 1772/73 (Group B).

(19) anonymous-Petersburg [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

anonymous-Leningrad [Lehmann].

Physical Description and History

Bound volume, 325 pp. “Die Anthropologie / nach / denen Vorleßungen des Herrn Professor Kant / gelesen / nach / Baumgartens empirischer / Psychologie”; below and to the right: “zu Königsberg / in Preussen”. Gray-blue paperbound volume consisting of six signatures with contemporary page-numbering. Margins are one-sixth the page width, marked by a crease. The text is neatly written, with catchwords. Some corrections and marginalia. The signatures (up to 14 sheets) are not themselves marked. The pagination begins on the front side of the third sheet with page 1 and ends with page 325 on the front side of a sheet; on the back of this sheet is a library note written in Russian regarding the size of the manuscript. There follow three blank sheets. Approximate word count: 115,000.

The manuscript has been corrected throughout by a contemporary hand. The first writer used a light brown ink, while the corrector primarily used black. The first writer also corrected text occasionally, and many of these are written over erasures.

Location

(1) Ms: St. Petersburg/Russia, National Library (Q.III N° 168).

(2) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 20).

(3) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 22).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; variant readings of an-Starke 1].

Dating

WS 1781/82 (Group E).

(20) anonymous-Pillau 1 [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Hardbound quarto volume (17.5 x 20 cm); 150 pp. (followed by four blank sheets). On the spine (on a red/orange label): “Kant’s Antro / pologie”. Inside the front cover is an acquisition note written in a blunt pencil: “Eigenthum des Realprogymnasiums Pillau.” On the endpaper (recto), a pencilled signature (illegible). On the verso side of a second endpaper: what appears to be a copper engraving of Kant, but in fact is an ink drawing (head and shoulders in an oval frame) measuring 14 x 18.25 cm, similar but not identical to one found in an-Pillau 3 (geography), and apparently based on the Becker painting of 1768. A title page has been cut away. At the top of the first page of text: “Antropologia / Prolegomena” and “Vol: I”.

Very ornately written. Catchwords are used throughout; paginated by the copyist. A 2 cm. margin, without marginalia. Approximate word count: 36,000. Written in the same hand as an-Pillau 2 (encyclopedia) and an-Pillau 3 (physical geography), as well as being similarly bound.

These three volumes (the encyclopedia is bound with other materials) were discovered in March of 1899 when a house in Pillau was torn down, and the manuscripts were discovered on the ground. They were given to the Realprogymnasium, directed by Dr. O. Meissner, who then made the volumes available to Vaihinger for his description in Kant-Studien (1899). The three volumes were then passed on to Max Heinze in Leipzig, then the general editor of the lecture notes section of the Academy edition of Kant’s writings.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, Ak-Archiv (NL-Kant 10).

(2) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 20).

(3) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 9).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 733-847].

(2) Wood/Louden [2012, 261-79]. Translation into English by Allen W. Wood of AA 25: 733-62, 781-88, 795-97, 838-47 (excerpts).

Dating

WS 1777/78 (Group D).

(21) anonymous-Pockels 1 [list of notes] [top]

History

Karl Friedrich Pockels (1757-1814) was the teacher to the two youngest sons of Herzog Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig (1735-1806). In a letter from Daniel Jenisch to Kant (14 May 1787) we find that Pockels was planning a trip to Königsberg with the two princes, but instead was able to procure in Göttingen copies of Kant’s lectures on moral philosophy and anthropology, “which he has been lecturing to the princes for the past half year” (AA 10: 486-6). This letter is the only information available regarding this manuscript; inquiries at the Staatsarchiv Wolfenbüttel were fruitless. See also an-Pockels 2 (moral).

(22) anonymous-Prieger [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Half-leather quarto volume (17 x 20 cm), 210 pp., followed by 23 blank and unnumbered sheets (except that on the recto side of the 18th sheet is the beginning of a table of contents). On the spine: “P. Kants / Vorlesungen / der / Anthopologie.”; inside the front cover: “Erich Prieger”, and under that (in pencil): “Angekauft im Octobr, 1876 aus Cat. No. 279 von K. F. Köhler’s Antiquarium in Leipzig (No 167 zusammen mit den Nrn. 165, 166) E. P.” Pages are numbered in the same hand that wrote the text. No title page. The first page of text bears the heading: “Einleitung”. The text is neatly written, with uniform margins: the outside margin is 4 cm with a crease, with margins top and bottom as well. The occasional marginalia and corrections are in a second hand. Additions found on pp. 205-10 are written in a smaller and different hand. The total text is about 68,000 words.

Prieger was a collector of manuscripts; at one time he had also owned Brauer 1 (anthropology) and two sets of notes on moral philosophy (Brauer 2, Kutzner).

The text (other than the six pages of additions) belongs to the Friedländer group of texts, and is possibly based on Nicolai 1. Schlapp [1901, 13] viewed it as essentially identical to Pohl.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, Ak-Archiv (NL-Kant 12).

(2) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 4).

(3) Photograph: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 10).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; variant readings of an-Friedländer 4.3], as well as a fragment at 25: 1535.

Dating

WS 1775/76. Text after ms. 205 may stem from WS 1777/78.

(23) anonymous-Reicke 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

18 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume, 163 pp. “Kants anthropologische Vorlesungen Nov. 1789”; at the end: “den 8. Febr. 1790”. Reported by Adickes as part of Rudolf Reicke’s [bio] Nachlaß [1923; AA 15:viii]. There are selections from and references to this manuscript in Adickes [AA 15] and Schlapp [1901, 15, 287-89]; no further information is available. The dates almost certainly refer to the act of copying the notes, rather than to the semester of origin (Feb. 8, for instance, was a Monday, and WS 1789/90 for this course began Oct. 14 and ended March 20).

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Ms. 2578). Lost.

Publications

(1) Schlapp [1901, 287-89]. A few minor fragments. [pdf]

Dating

WS 1789/90?

(24) anonymous-Reicke 2 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

17 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume, 50 sheets. “Fragment eines Collegii des Herrn Professor Kant über die Anthropologie”. Reported by Adickes as part of Rudolf Reicke’s [bio] Nachlaß [1923; AA 15:viii]. Discussed and briefly quoted by Schlapp.

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Ms. 2580). Lost.

Publications

(1) Schlapp [1901, 15, 283-87]. A few minor fragments. [pdf]

Dating

A reference in the notes to Pope’s Satires led Schlapp to date them sometime after 1783.

(25) anonymous-Reimarus [list of notes] [top]

History

We learn of this manuscript in a letter from Sophie Reimarus (1742-1817) to Karl Leonhard Reinhold (1758-1823), dated November 11, 1794:

“[…] One should not always do the same thing, says Kant in his anthropology, so that the mind can recuperate, and be refreshed by a change in the normal routine. This anthropology, although with errors and with gaps in the copying, has given us much pleasure; my husband got it from a student of Kant’s, who wrote it down in his classroom.” [Keil 1885, 328]

Sophie’s husband, Johann Albrecht Heinrich Reimarus (1729-1814), is the same Reimarus to whom Kant directed his brief “Settlement of a Mathematical Controversy” [writings]. The manuscript has disappeared. See an-Reinhold, below.

(26) anonymous-Reinhold [list of notes] [top]

History

We learn of this manuscript in a letter from Sophie Reimarus (1742-1817) to Karl Leonhard Reinhold (1758-1823), dated June 3, 1794:

“I can’t bring myself to send Kant’s anthropology back to you, without also writing a few words as well. [ … ] I have read Kant’s anthropology with much enjoyment, and I was glad to be able to understand it. If you have more selections, and believe that the diet is not too hard for me, then do be so good as to share some of it with me.”

Mention of this (or possibly another) manuscript also occurs in Fernow’s correspondence; see an-Fernow, above, as well as an-Remarius. We possess no further information.

(27) anonymous-Starke 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

19 [Adickes], Menschenkunde [Brandt/Stark 1997].

History

Published as Immanuel Kant’s Menschenkunde oder philosophische Anthropologie, edited by Johann Adam Bergk [bio], writing under the pseudonym Friedrich Christian Starke. We know nothing of the manuscript’s provenance. Manuscript length is about 103,000 words. Apart from two other sets of anthropology notes (see below), Starke also published a set of notes on geography.

Location

(1) Ms: Lost.

Publications

(1) Bergk [1831a].

(2) Tonelli [1976]. Photomechanical reprint of Berkg [1831a] and Berkg [1831b]: Hildesheim, Georg Olms, 1976, with a Preface by Giorgio Tonelli. Includes a reprint of an-Starke 2.

(3) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 853-1203], with variant readings from Petersburg. Based on Tonelli [1976].

(4) Wood/Louden [2012, 289-333]. Translation into English by Robert B. Louden of AA 25: 853-59, 1156-1203 (excerpts).

Dating

WS 1781/82 (Group E).

Adickes notes: “More in detail than Kant’s own edition; probably after the first lecture of the winter of 1772/73, for according to this things can still be known by the understanding as they are in themselves” [Adickes 1970, 30]. Bergk dated these notes as sometime before the KdrV (i.e., 1781); Erdmann dated them at 1773/74. Schlapp, on the basis of contemporary literary references, placed the earliest date at 1793/94 and the latest at 1795/96 — or about twenty years later than Starke and Erdmann [Erdmann 1882/84, i.58; Schlapp 1901, 9-10; cf. Satura 1971, 17 and AA 25: lix].

(27) anonymous-Starke 2 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

Anweisung.

History

Published as Anweisung zur Menschen- und Weltkenntniss. Nach dessen Vorlesungen im Winterhalbjähre von 1790-1791, edited by Johann Adam Bergk (1769-1834), writing under the pseudonym Friedrich Christian Starke. We know nothing of the manuscript’s provenance. About 32,000 words.

Location

(1) Ms: Lost.

Publications

(1) Bergk [1831b].

(2) Tonelli [1976]. Photomechanical reprint of Berkg [1831a] and Berkg [1831b]: Hildesheim, Georg Olms, 1976, with a Preface by Giorgio Tonelli. Includes a reprint of an-Starke 1.

(3) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 1563-64]. Based on Tonelli [1976].

Dating

The exact dates given by Bergk are 13 October 1790 to 23 March 1791: the former is the first day of the anthropology classes for that semester, while the latter falls on the right day of the week (Wednesday), but two weeks earlier than the end of the semester. Schlapp accepts the dating [1901, 8]. The editors of the Academy edition of the Anthropology lectures leave the date as undetermined.

Bergk notes a verbatim agreement with passages in Kant’s published Anthropology; e.g., the text at Bergk, 75-94, is identical to passages from the 1800 edition of Kant’s Anthropology [AA 7:129-229]. There are also a number of verbatim passages with an-Starke 1; all told, these parallel passages constitute about 30% of the total text (see the list of parallels at AA 25: cxliii).

(29) anonymous-Starke 3 [list of notes] [top]

History

It is not entirely clear which manuscript(s) was used by Bergk for his Taschenbuch [¹1826[?], ²1838] that brought together texts from Hippel, Wieland, Sterne, Helvetius, Shakespeare, and Kant on the nature of human beings. Most of the aphorism-formatted text appears to stem from an-Starke 1 and an-Starke 2, although some of the text appears to stem from the 1770s, as well.

Location

(1) Ms: Lost.

Publications

(1) Bergk [1826].

(30) Brauer 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

2 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Hardbound quarto paper volume (17 x 19 cm), 206 pp. (but 107 sheets). On the title page: “Collegium Antropologicum / oder / Vorlesungen über / den / Menschen / von / HE. Immanuel Kant / Professore Log. et Metaph. ord. / h.t. Decano spectabl. / Academia Regiomonti / gesammlet / von / Theodor Friederich Brauer / civ. Acad. Regiomonti / d 13. Octobr. incept / 1779.”; at the end: “Finit den 13. Feb. 1780”. These dates refer to when Brauer attended the lectures (although the closing date of February 13 is likely when he finished copying the set of notes (whose source lecture was WS 1772/73), as the anthropology lectures did not end that term until March 8).

On the spine of the volume are the remains of an inscription whose last letters appear to read “Antropol.” On the upper-left of the reverse of the front cover: “Erich Prieger”. In front of the title page are two blank endpapers. After the title page is a sheet, presumably glued on later, of a different kind of paper (different watermark, lighter color) than that used in the rest of the volume (but with the same handwriting). It is numbered as the “0” page. At the very top of page one are the Greek letters alpha and omega (in very small handwriting), separated with a backslash. There is a 2 cm creased margin to the side, and a wider bottom margin. After the conclusion of the text there follows three unpaginated pages with a table of contents. The back endpaper is blank both front and back. On the inside of the back cover, upper-left corner: “1876 N. 310”, in the middle: “verliehen 1879 bis 1. Juli 1896. E. P.” As to its provenance, compare with an-Prieger. Approximate word count: 79,000.

Theodor Friedrich Brauer (1761-1830) was the sole matriculant on March 4, 1779, registering as a theology student.[1] The notes themselves clearly stem from WS 1772/73, but the date given on the title page (Oct. 13) is the first day of the anthropology lectures for WS 1779/80 (the end date, Feb. 13, falls on a Sunday in the middle of the semester). A likely explanation is that Brauer either purchased notes to have while attending the lectures, or else copied them out himself. The manuscript was owned by Erich Prieger of Bonn, who also owned at one time an-Prieger (anthropology), Brauer 2 (moral), and Kutzner (moral). Schlapp [1901, 14, 164-216] discusses the manuscript at length.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.554]: (4 Mar 1779) “Brauer Theodor. Frdr., Silberbach ad Liebstad. Boruss., theol. stud.”.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, Ak-Archiv (NL-Kant 7).

(2) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 5).

(3) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 12).

Publications

(1) Schlapp [1901, 164-216]. [pdf]

(2) Brandt/Stark [1997; variant readings of Collins 1].

Dating

WS 1772/73 (Groups A/B).

This manuscript mixes material from Groups A and B.

(31) Busolt 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

3 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Hardbound quarto volume (16 x 20.25 cm), 145 pp. Title-page is cut away. On the spine is written: “Anthropo / logie von / Kant”. On the inside cover, bottom right: “G. C. W. Busolt”; in the middle is an acquisition note: “acc. ms. 1898, 223”. The pagination is contemporary with the notes, and confused (32 and 140 were written twice). The text is legible, with a 3.5 cm creased margin, no marginalia. Catchwords are used throughout. The last page of text ends at the bottom of the front side of a sheet (numbered ‘143’; actually p. 145), and with a catchword; but the backside is blank, as are the thirty sheets that follow. The binding and the paper (“J Honig & Zoonen” watermark) are the same as with Busolt’s geography notes. Approximate word count: 31,000.

Gotthilf Christoph Wilhelm Busolt [bio] matriculated September 23, 1788, as a theology student,[1] and may have attended Kant’s anthropology lectures that winter semester, which began on October 15. The three manuscripts from Busolt (see his notes on logic and physical geography) in the Berlin Staatsbibliothek are not in the same hand, and Busolt’s own hand has not been identified. Busolt remained in Königsberg, and may have taught briefly at the university.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.605]: (23 Sep 1788) “Busolt Gotthilf Christoph. Wilh., Buchholtz ad Landsberg Boruss., theol. stud.”.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, SBPK, Haus II (Ms. germ. quart. 1295).

(2) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 13).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 1435-1531], corresponding to Ms. 1-143.

(2) Wood/Louden [2012, 515-24]. Translation into English by Allen W. Wood of AA 25: 1435-41, 1480-83, 1530-31 (excerpts).

Dating

WS 1788/89 [?] (Group G).

(32) Collins 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

4 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume, 205 pp. “Antropologie / akademischer Vortrag. / des Herrn Profeßor Kant in Königsberg in Preußen. / für Georg Ludw: Collins aus Riga 1786.” Neat handwriting, with a narrow margin; catchwords used throughout. Georg Ludwig Collins [bio] matriculated September 9, 1784.[1] A comparison of the handwriting with that of a poem composed by Collins confirms that he copied this manuscript himself. Approximate word count: 55,000. See also his moral philosophy notes.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.582]: (9 Sep 1784) “Collins Geo. Ludov., Regiomontan. Pruss., e lyceo imperatorio Rigensi, theol.”.

Location

(1) Ms: Riga/Latvia, Academy Library (R 2879).

(2) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 14).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 7-238], corresponding to Ms. 1-205, and with variant readings from Philippi, Hamilton, Brauer, Dohna, Parow, and Euchel

(2) Wood/Louden [2012, 15-26]. Translation into English by Allen W. Wood of AA 25: 7-18, 176-82, 227 (excerpts).

(3) García Mayo [2012]. Translation into Spanish by Alejandro García Mayo of ??.

Dating

WS 1772/73 (Group A).

(33) Dohna-Schlobitten 1 [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

“Anthropologie bey Kant nach Baumgarten 1790.” 125 pages. Wilhelm Heinrich Maximilian Graf zu Dohna-Schlobitten (1773-1831) matriculated 8 October 1790.[1] Our only information comes from Menzer’s list from 1912. Notes on logic and moral philosophy attributed to Dohna-Schlobitten are also lost.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.614]: (8 Oct 1790) “Dohna-Schlobitten Sacri Romani Imperii comes Maximilian. Guilielm. Hnr., cum testimonio maturitatis, stud. iur.”.

Location

(1) Ms: private possession. Lost.

(34) Dohna-Wundlacken 1 [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume (17.5 x 20 cm), 365 pp. On the title page: “ANTHROPOLOGIA / docente / Profess: Kant.” At the bottom left: “Heinrich L. A. Gr zu Dohna. / angefangen den 11ten Sept. 1791”. Includes a running entry of the date and time of the lectures. At the end of the manuscript: “10ten Maerz 1792”. Pagination is contemporary with the text. Margins are about one-fifth the page width. As with Dohna’s logic notes, the signatures are labelled in the bottom margin in the middle, with upper case, ornately written letters, beginning with ‘A’ on the title page. A table of contents is written on the backside of the front endpaper. Approximate word count: 90,000.

Graf Heinrich Ludwig Adolph zu Dohna-Wundlacken [bio] matriculated at the university in Königsberg on June 15, 1791.[1] Apart from the anthropology notes, Dohna also left notes on logic, metaphysics, and physical geography. They are all of similar provenance and format, with running entries of the date and time of the lectures (although only sporadically in the logic notes); these are written in the margin, but appear to have been written when the main text was copied out at home.

The anthropology notes were written by at least three different and unidentified hands, and the dates are puzzling. The date on the manuscript’s title page (September 11) is a Sunday, and apart from that is too early for the semester (which didn’t begin until October 12). The closing date (March 10) at the end of the notes, on the other hand, was indeed the date of the last lecture for that semester. Two rather striking corrections regarding the year also occur. On the title-page, a “1792” is written over in ink as “1791”; this corresponds with the change of year on p. 124: an overwrite with pencil: “1791” is changed into “1792”.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.616]: (15 Jun 1791) “Dohna de Sancti Romani Imperii comes Hnr. Ludov. Adolph., Baro de Wundlacken”.

Location

(1) Ms: privately-held by the Dohna family.

(2) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 2).

Publications

(1) Kowalewski [1924, 71-373; ms. 1-365]. A reliable transcription.

(2) Brandt/Stark [1997; as variant readings to Collins 1].

Dating

Primarily dating from WS 1791/92 (Group H), the semester when Graf Dohna would have attended the lecture. A few parts seem to stem from WS 1772/73 (Group B), bearing similarity to Brauer 1.

As with Dohna-Wundlacken’s other notes on metaphysics and logic, these notes are given running entries, listing the hour, usually the day of week, and the date. In the anthropology, these dates are a bit erratic. The very first entry on ms. 1 reads: “Erste Stunde von 8-9, den. 12. Mittwoch”. Despite the September date on the title page, this first hour must fall on October 12 (September 12 does not fall on a Wednesday in 1791; and besides, classes never began that soon). The 3rd hour (which would be the next meeting day, Saturday, since they met two hours each Wednesday and Saturday) is listed at ms. 9: “Dritte Stunde, Sonnabend, den 15ten, von 8-9.” The 5th hour entry (ms. 16) reads “den 19ten Oktober, Mittwochs, 3tesmal, 5te Stunde,” which continues to fit the 1791 calendar. The remainder of the entries fit the WS 1791/92 schedule, with one exception. At ms. 161 the entry reads: “39ste Stunde. Sonnabend, den 12. Januar 1792” which, despite the year given, fits the 1793 calendar (thus, the WS 1792/93 schedule). The 40th hour (the second hour of that day) is entered at ms. 167, and then no more entries are given until ms. 216 [Kowalewski skips this page marking!]: “41ste Stunde, Mittwoch, den 18. Januar von 8-9” (which brings us back to the WS 1791/92 schedule, with entries continuing to the end of the manuscript, ending with March 10th, 1792.

Content

The notes appear to be a mixture of material that Dohna would have written down during WS 1791/92 and material that he copied from a set of notes stemming from WS 1772/73 (about 40% of the text). The text up to ms. 72 and after ms. 353 is a close copy of lecture material from WS 1772/73, while the text in-between is an assortment, including material from the early 1790s (Dohna was at the university from June 1791 to 1795).

(35) Elsner [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

6 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume, 55 sheets. “Anthropologie bei HErrn Professor Kant im Winterhalbenjahr 1792/93”. This manuscript was part of Rudolf Reicke’s [bio] Nachlaß when Adickes [1923] inspected it, and we know only what Adickes [1923; AA 15:vii] and Schlapp [1901, 16] reported. Schlapp viewed the manuscript as possibly consisting of original notes written in the classroom; there are a great many abbreviations and it is difficult to read. It includes the dates of the individual lectures, with the last twelve lectures missing. See also Schlapp [1901, 294].

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Ms. 2579). Lost.

Publication

(1) Schlapp [1901, 16, 394]. Fragments. [pdf]

(2) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 1560-61]. Reprint of some of the Schlapp [1901] fragments.

Dating

Christoph Johann Heinrich Elsner (1777-1834) matriculated 27 March 1792 as a medical student ( “filius meus natu maximus”) from Bartenstein.[1] The rector inscribing him was his father, Christoph Friedrich Elsner [bio]. He would likely have attended Kant’s anthropology lectures in WS 1792/93.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.618]: (27 Mar 1792) “Elsner Christ. Joh. Hnr., filius meus natu maximus, Barenstein. Boruss., med.”.

(36) Euchel [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Title page: “Anthropologie / des / Herrn Prof. Kant / in Königsberg”. [At end of ms??] “Abgeschrieben im Jahre 1783. I. A. Euchel”. 359 pp. Three hands can be discerned: the first hand is interrupted by a second hand at ms. 261-92, and a third hand has entered marginalia and short additions. Isaac Abraham Euchel [bio] matriculated at the Albertina on 2 April 1782,[1] and was a Hofmeister in the Friedländer house. As it turned out, David Friedländer, the uncle of his charge, possessed a more current set of notes (from 1775/76) than the notes Euchel copied (from 1772/73). Approximate word count: 68,000.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.570]: (2 Apr 1782) “Eichel [sic] Isaac, Kopenhagen Danus, gente Judaeus.”.

Location

(1) Ms: Riga/Latvia, Staatsbibliothek (R A 182, #4).

(2) Film: Marburg archive (Film ??).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; as variant readings to Collins 1 and an-Parow].

Dating

The main text is a copy of from the an-Parow group of notes, stemming from WS 1772/73 (Group B). The marginalia entered by the third hand (and consisting of about 1400 words) stems from a later semester, perhaps WS 1782/83.

(37) Flottwell [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

7 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Two quarto volumes, 289 pp, 185 pp. On the spine?: “Anthropologie”. Neither volume is paginated. Adickes gave the name “C. T. Flottwell” [AA 15:vii], while Menzer gave it as: “C. F. Flothwell” in his 1912 list. This notebook may have belonged to either Christ. Theodor Flottwell (matriculated 27 September 1763 at Königsberg)[1] or to his brother Johann Friedrich Flottwell (matriculated 7 April 1767).[2] They are nephews of Coelestin Christian Flottwell (1711-59), full professor of German rhetoric at Königsberg from 1743 to his death. The Flottwell brothers appear to have spent their lives in Königsberg, and these manuscripts would have been acquired after their student years, since Kant’s earliest lecture on anthropology was in WS 1772/73. The manuscripts were part of Rudolf Reicke’s Nachlaß when they were inspected by Adickes [1923]. Schlapp [1901, 13] viewed the text as essentially identical to Pohl. See Reicke’s biography.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.489]: (27 Sep 1763) “Flottwell Christ. Theodor., Regiomonte-Boruss.”.

[2] Erler [1911-12, ii.504]: (7 Apr 1767) “Flottvell Joh. Frdr., Regiomonte-Boruss.”.

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Ms. 2576). Lost.

(38) Matuszewski [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

10 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume, 578 pp. “Kants Anthropologie von Matuszewski. v. 12. Octb. 91 bis 10. Maerz 92”. Daniel Thomas Matuszewski (1774-1835[?]), matriculated September 11, 1791, as a law student.[1] Adickes notes that Arthur Warda gave this manuscript to the Königsberg city library. The identification of this manuscript with the text published in Kowalewski [1925a] is based on Adickes’ description in vol. 15 of the Academy edition.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.616]: (11 Sep 1791) “Matuscewsky Daniel Thom., Regiomontan. Boruss., iur. cult.”.

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, StB (S 123). Lost.

Publications

(1) Kowalewski [1925a, 61-93]. Reprinted in: Kowalewski [1924/1965]. Reprinted in: G. Tonelli’s 1976 reprint of Bergk’s Menschenkunde (1831).

(2) Kowalewski [1944-45, 177-408; 2000, 183-454]. This is a complete transcript of the notes.

(3) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 1561-2]. Reprint of part of Kowalewski [1925a].

Dating

Some of the text appears to stem from 1772/73; otherwise it stems from 1791/92, and the manuscript as a whole is closely related to Dohna-Wundlacken 1. The dates given on the title page from WS 1791/92 are the proper dates for that semester, suggesting that Matuszewski was carrying an old copy of the notes into the lecture hall with him during WS 1791/92. Kowalewski [2000, 174] accepted 1791/92 as the semester of origin.

Content

The sections included are on self-consciousness, custom and habit, contrast, imagination and fantasy, the healthy understanding, aesthetic taste, and maturity and immaturity.

(39) Mrongovius 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

5 [Adickes], Danziger [Adickes 1923].

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume (17 x 20 cm), 132 sheets. On the title page: “Die Anthropologie / vom / HErrn Professor Imanuel Kant 1785 / d. 1. Aug. Mrongov.”; at the end (on sheet 132) “finis d. 31. Oct.”[1] The dates presumably refer to the preparation of the Reinschrift, done near the end of the following summer semester and summer recess.

The manuscript consists of 17 signatures; the margins are about one-third the page width, with occasional long marginal notes inserted into the text with a sign. Text is in ink. There is no original pagination; sheets are numbered in pencil (presumably by a librarian) in the upper-right corner, running from 1-129, followed by two blank sheets.

Two different writers prepared the text, Mrongovius and an unknown hand (the hands change betweeen ms. 116-17). The unidentified handwriting bears no resemblance to the unidentified hands in Mrongovius’s metaphysics notes. Occasionally there are additions by a third (but almost certainly contemporary) hand. The ink color is brown throughout, an exception being an addition found on sheet 36, where Mrongovius wrote with a pale red ink the words “Enthusiasten der Freyheit” and the year “1793”. This same ink is found only occasionally with underlinings. There are almost no catch-words used for transitions between pages, sheets, or signatures.

Christoph Coelestin Mrongovius [bio] matriculated on 21 March 1782.[2] See also his notes on moral philosophy (WS 1784/85), metaphysics (WS 1782/83), logic (SS 1784?), physics (SS 1785), and natural theology (WS 1783/84).

[1] These notes are also listed in Günther [1909, 214] (see entry).

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.569]: (21 Mar 1782) “Mrongovius Chrisoph. Coelestin., Hohenst[ein]. Boruss.”.

Location

(1) Ms: Gdansk (Poland), Biblioteka PAN (Ms. 2217).

(2) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 4)

(3) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 15).

Publications

(1) Aramayo [1990]. Translation into Spanish, from the Ms.

(2) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 1209-1429], corresponding to Ms. 1-132; with variant readings from Marienburg

(3) Wood/Louden [2012, 343-509]. Translation into English by Robert R. Clewis of AA 25: 1209-1429 (complete).

Dating

WS 1784/85 (marginalia from WS 1772/73). The dates on the title page (August 1, 1785) and at the end (October 31, 1785) do not fit the semester or week-days (both of these dates fell on Monday) of WS 1785/86, and so almost certainly refer to the act of writing out the clean notes.

Content

Some of the marginalia, and one passage of the main text (AA 25: 1351-52), appears to stem from a text in the Collins group (1772/73) — in all, about 7% of the text comes from the 1772/73 semester [AA 25: lxxxviii].

(40) Naumburg [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Paper bound quarto volume, 121 sheets (17.5 x 21 cm). There are 238 pp. of text. The cover is heavily worn, and the paper is laid, with a watermark. No title is discernible on the spine. At the top of the front side of the sheet 1, in ornate script: “Vorlesungen / d. hr: Prof: Kant. über Anthropologie”; at the bottom-right: “I. Naumburg / 1791.” The ink is brown, although almost black at times (‘Anthropologie’ and ‘1791’ are very dark). The text begins on the front side of the sheet 2, with the heading “Prolegomena.” written across the top. The pages are creased down the middle, marking the wide margin, and there are small margins top and bottom; it is clear that the copy was written with the intention of being bound.

The manuscript appears to be the product of two [or three?] copyists, the hand changing at the top of p. 81 (which also begins the 6th signature)[it also changes a few other places; once for only a page]. The first hand is especially neat and legible, and neither make use of abbreviations. It is unclear which, if either, of these two hands is responsible for the title page. The pages prepared by the first copyist keep the margin always on the right-hand side of each page, while the second copyist always leaves it on the outside edge of each page. Catchwords are used by the first copyist only to connect signatures, and are used more frequently by the second copyist. There are section headings throughout (underlined, written across the middle of the page). Pagination of odd-numbered pages was entered for pp. 49-95 by the second copyist (the hand changes at the top of p. 81 (front of sheet 41), and this count includes the title page and its blank backside. The bound manuscript consists of 16 signatures,[1] the first six of these are indicated with an upper-case letter at the bottom of the first page of each signature (A through F). All of the signatures consist of eight sheets except the 7th (4 sheets), 13th (6 sheets), and 16th (7 sheets, with an eighth sheet glued to the back cover). The first sheet of the first signature was cut off leaving a 1 cm margin which was glued to the back of the endpaper (which, in effect, serves as the first page of this signature). This cut page may well have contained a different title page in its unbound state. The back of the title page, and both sides of the last sheet, are blank; otherwise the pages are completely full of text. The only marginalia are occasional words added or corrected by the copyist.[2]

Isaac Naumburg [bio] matriculated on 21 December 1789, as a medical student.[3]

The manuscript was purchased by the Marburg Kant-Archiv in June 1999 from a private owner in Cleveland (Ohio), who claims to have purchased the manuscript at a used bookstore in Cincinnati during the early 1930s.[4] On the inside of the front cover is penciled “10 Gr” — which is likely the price (ten groschen) entered by a used book dealer. Perhaps the manuscript entered the used book trade while still in Germany, and was then purchased and made its way to the United States, where it once again entered the used book trade in Cincinnati.

[1] The signatures begin with sheets 1, 9, 17, 25, 33, 41, 49, 53, 61, 69, 77, 85, 93, 99, 107, 115.

[2] The watermark seems to change with the hand. The first five signatures (including the front endpaper) have a crowned eagle clutch an orb and sword in its left and right talons; below this are the letters OEker. The watermark of the following signatures is indiscernible, but clearly different. These marks might be mixed; a “JCA” is found on pages in both parts of the manuscript, for instance, and this would seem to be different from the Eagle watermark.

[3] Erler [1911-12, ii.611]: (21 Dec 1789) “Naumburg Isaac, ex Friedl[and]. Boruss. occident., gente Judaeus, med. cult.”.

[4] I thank Joseph Berne, the previous owner, for the following account of his acquisition: “In the early 1930's, while still in college, I often prowled the second-hand bookstores of various cities for early or rare editions of famous authors, taking advantage of the period's depressed prices. In Cincinnati, Ohio, where dealers often bought whole libraries from impoverished families of German descent, I found the Naumburg notebook in a pile of scruffy books that the dealer thought of little value. I could not read its German script but the Immanuel Kant reference made me think it should be saved. The manuscript has been a curiosity in my library all these years until I came across a reference to the North American Kant Society on the Internet. Contact with them has resulted in my little rescue having a proper home and serving a scholarly purpose. It is a circuitous journey with a happy ending that I am sure would surprise and delight both Naumburg and Kant. It does me. Joseph Berne”

Location

(1) Ms: Marburg UB (Ms 1038, 3). [online]

Dating

The notes stem from the end of the 1780s, being closely related to the Busolt notes, but they also contain additions not found in any other notes.

(41) Nicolai 1 [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

“Collegium Anthropologiae / a / Viro excellentissimo Professore Ordinario / Domino Kant / privatim pertractatum / studio vero persecutum / a Carolo Ferdinando Nicolai. / S:S. Th. et Phil. cult. / Regiom. per Semestre Hibernum 1775-1776.”; at the end: “Finis Anthropologiae. C. F. Nicolai. ... die 24 Martii 1776”. [Menzer writes: “Collegium Anthropologicum … Semestrum … 1775/6”]

Although Adickes did not include this manuscript in his list given in the introduction of AA 15, he used it at AA 15:760₂₇. The evidence from Schlapp [1901, 13-14] supports the possibility that this is the most important text source for an-Friedländer 1, an-Friedländer 4.3, an-Prieger, and Pohl. Other than Adickes and Schlapp, it appears that only Delbos [1903] and Schwarz [1915] had access to the manuscript. Schlapp [1901, 116-48] discusses and quotes this manuscript at length. When Schlapp was using it, the manuscript belonged to the Altertumsgesellschaft Prussia in Königsberg.

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Ms. 2534). Lost.

Publications

(1) Schlapp [1901, 116-48]. Extensive selections. [pdf]

Dating

WS 1775/76 (Group C). Schlapp noted internal evidence (such as a mention of the American war of independence in the present tense) that confirmed this date as likely. Carl Ferdinand Nicolai [bio] matriculated at the university on 21 June 1770 as a theology student,[1] and presumably attended this set of lectures. The closing date of March 24, 1776, is unexpected, however, since it fell on a Sunday, and the last lecture was March 30.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.516]: (21 Jun 1770) “Nicolai Car. Ferdin., Eichmedia-Boruss., theol. stud.”.

(42) Philippi 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

13 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

A half-leather quarto volume, 98 sheets. On the spine: “Kants Antropologie”. On the title-page: “Vorlesungen / über die / Naturerkentniß des Menschen. / Vom Herrn Professor Kant.” In the lower-right corner: “Koenigsberg im 8br 1772 / Philippi”. The volume contains 14 signatures, but the last six are wholly blank and unnumbered. The first 98 pages are numbered (at a later date) in pencil. Margins are one-third the page width. All the text, including the marginalia, is in the same hand. Inserted near the end anthropology notes are a few pages of unrelated text from 1860 [Stark 1987a, 130]. About 24,000 words.

The manuscript was acquired by the Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz in 1901 from the Berliner Königlichen Bibliothek, which had bought it from the firm of Breslauer & Meyer (Berlin).

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, SBPK, Haus II (Ms. germ. quart. 1308).

(2) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 16).

Publications

(1) Brandt/Stark [1997; as variant readings to Collins 1].

Dating

WS 1772/73. Wilhelm Albert Ferdinand Philippi [bio] matriculated on March 25, 1771,[1] and could have attended the course during the semester of the note’s origin. This manuscript belongs to both Group A and Group B, and its value is quite high, being the only set of extant notes originating at the same time as this set of lectures. See also Philippi’s notes on physical geography and logic. [Stark 1987a, 129-34; see also Brandt/Stark 1997; AA 25: xvii, n1: the marginalia on pp. 2 and 2’ date from a later semester.]

[1] Erler [1911-12, 2: 519]: (25 Mar 1771) “Philippi Wilh. Albert., Berolin.”.

(43) Pohl [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

14 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume, 312 pp. “Prof. Immanuel Kants Vorlesungen / über die / Anthropologie oder Kenntnis des Menschen. / Königsberg 1780 bis 1781 im Winterhalbjahr. / Friedr. Wilh. Pohl aus Marienburg. / d. R. B.”; on the margin of p. 212: “1781 d. 2 Jan.”; at the end: “13. Feb. 1781.” [Menzer writes: “ … Winterhalben Jahr … Friedrich Wilhelm Pohl … d. W.B.”]

Friedrich Wilhelm Pohl matriculated 28 April 1780.[1] Schlapp [1901, 12] suggests “der Rechtsgelehrsamkeit Beflissener” as a possible rendering of “d. R. B.” He also found neither external nor internal reason to doubt that these notes stemmed from 1780/81, citing the marginal date on p. 212 and the closing date, which appears alongside the name of the writer. Schlapp suggested that January 2 might have been the resumption of classes after the Christmas vacation. Both of these days, however, fall on Tuesdays — odd for a class meeting on Wednesday and Saturday. The manuscript was first used in Erdmann [1882, 53n3]. The evidence provided by Adickes [AA 15], Schlapp [1901], and Schwarz [1915] suggests that the text of his manuscript belongs to Group C (1775/76). Possibly based on Nicolai 1.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.561]: (28 Apr 1780) “Pohl Frdr. Wilh., Soldav. Boruss.”.

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Ms. 2023). Lost.

Dating

WS 1775/76.

(44) Puttlich 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

15 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Quarto volume, 326 pp. On the title page (?): “Anthropologie / von / Herrn Professor Kant / vorgetragen nach Baumgartens empirischer Psychologie / nachgeschrieben / von Christian Friedrich Puttlich / Königsberg im Dezember des 1784sten Jahres”; at the end: “Geendigt im Monat März des 1785sten Jahres”.

Christian Friedrich Puttlich [bio] matriculated 23 March 1782.[1] He reports in his diary that he attended the anthopology lectures twice, in 1782/83 and 1784/85: “October 16 (1782). Herr Professor Kant began Anthropology. [...] March 29 (1783). Herr Prof. Kant concluded Anthropology.” [Warda 1905a, 275-76]. These notes were nonetheless not written by Puttlich, but rather were copied from a set of notes owned by his friend Caspar Weber (see Weber, below); his geography notes were also copied (from his friend Nicolovius).

The manuscript belonged to the Nachlaß of Rudolf Reicke [bio] when Adickes inspected it [1923; AA 15:viii]. It was used by Külpe and Paulsen [Schlapp 1901, 11]. Adickes [AA 15], Schlapp [1901, 11-12], and Adickes [1911a, 37] all indicate that this manuscript belongs to Group E (WS 1781/82). This manuscript is thought to be closely associated with an-Starke 1 (Schlapp suggests it might have been the very manuscript Starke used for the publication, thus, materially identical to an-Starke 1). Adickes [1911a, 37-39] discusses this set of notes extensively, as an example of notetaking practice and the difficulty of dating the notes.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.569]: (23 Mar 1782) “Puttlich Christ. Frdr., Mohrunga-Boruss.”.

Location

(1) Ms: Königsberg, UB (Ms. 2577). Lost.

Publication

(1) Schlapp [1901, 241-83]. Fragments. [pdf]

Dating

WS 1781/82 (Group E). The dates given on the title page (December 1784) and at the end (March 1785) are perhaps nominally related to the actual lectures that Puttlich may have attended, since Easter fell on March 27 that spring, meaning that the end date for the semester would indeed have been in March. Perhaps Puttlich began copying the notes during Christmas break (which typically lasted the better part of December).

(45) Reichel [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

16 [Adickes].

Physical Description and History

Hardbound quarto volume (17.5 x 21 cm), 147 pp. (followed by 7 blank pages). Text on the spine is obliterated; no endpaper; on the title page: “Anthropologiam Philosoph. / Prof. Ord. Kant in Semestri / hiberno 1793-1794 propo- / suit.”; towards the bottom: “Joh: Ephr: Reichel.” Pagination was entered by the writer of the notes. A 5 cm margin with some marginalia. On the inside of the front cover is the name of an owner (pencil): “Frau Professor Glogau Frankfurt a M Hermannstr. 40”; the manuscript was still owned by Glogau when Adickes inspected it [1923; AA 15:viii]. The volume is interleaved with blank 1/2 quarto (9 x 20 cm) sheets. Approximate word count: 33,000.

Location

(1) Ms: Berlin, Ak-Archiv (NL-Kant 9).

(2) Film: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Film 20).

(3) Photocopy: Marburg Kant-Archiv (Mappe 17).

Publications

(1) Schlapp [1901, 395-6]. A few fragments. [pdf]

(2) Brandt/Stark [1997; AA 25: 1553-57]. Fragments.

Dating

WS 1793/94 (Group J)? It’s possible that Johann Ephraim Reichel (177?-1839), matriculating on September 24, 1793, as a theology student,[1] attended the lectures this semester. The text itself appears to have been written by Reichel himself, rather than the product of professional copyists.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.624]: (24 Sep 1793) “Reichel Joh. Ephraim, Darkehmen Boruss., theol. cult.”.

(46) von Schön 1 [list of notes] [top]

History

This manuscript was mentioned by Kowalewski [1924, 42]. Heinrich Theodor von Schön [bio] matriculated on 25 October 1788 as a law student.[1] The existence of this manuscript is also suggested by Fichte’s journal entry of 27 July 1791: “the 27th [July] I finished this journal after I finished the excerpts from Kant’s lectures on anthropology that v. Schön loaned me.” [Lauth/Jacob 1962, 416].[2] Schön would have been a law student at the time. Dieter Henrich [1965, 262] also mentions a journal entry of August 15 (J. G. Fichtes Briefwechsel, ed. by Hans Schulz, 1:197 [Leipzig 1925]). Two sets of his metaphysics notes from Kant's classroom are extant.

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.607]: (25 Oct 1788) “Schoen, Hnr. Theodor., Schreitlauken ad Ragnit Boruss., iur.stud”.

[2] This is from Fichte’s “Tagebuch meiner Osterabreise aus Sachsen nach Polen u. Preußen”; repr. in Malter [1990, 373].

Location

(1) Ms: Lost.

(47) Weber [list of notes] [top]

History

Caspar Weber matriculated at the Albertina on September 28, 1782.[1] We know of this manuscript only through Puttlich, who wrote in his journal that he copied the manuscript; see the discussion of Puttlich 1 (above). See also Adickes [1911a, 37-42].

[1] Erler [1911-12, ii.572]: (28 Sep 1782) “Weber Caspar., ad Ruegenwaldam Pomer.”.

Location

(1) Ms: Lost.

Dating

WS 1781/82 (Group E).

Anthropology Notes

Families of Student Notes [list of notes] [top]

1772/73 [A]

1772/73 [B]

1775/76 [C]

1777/78 [D]

1781/82 (?) [E]

1784/85 (?) [F]

1788/89 (?) [G]

1791/92 (?) [H]

1793/94 (?) [J]

Earlier Scholarship on the Anthropology Notes [list of notes] [top]

Textbook used in Kant’s anthropology Lectures [list of notes] [top]

Kant’s published Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View (1798) [list of notes] [top]

§1. Vom Bewußtsein seiner selbst [On self-consciousness]

§2. Vom Egoism [On Egoism]

§3. Vom wirklichen Bewußtsein seiner Vorstellungen [On voluntary consciousness of our ideas]

§4. Vom Beobachten seiner selbst [On Observing Oneself]

§5. Von den Vorstellungen, die wir haben, ohne uns ihrer bewußt zu sein [On ideas that we have without being conscious of them]

§6. Von der Deutlichkeit und Undeutlichkeit im Bewußtsein seiner Vorstellungen [On distinctness and indistinctness in consciousness of our ieas]

§7. Von der Sinnlichkeit im Gegensatz mit dem Verstande [On sensibility as contrasted with understanding]

§§8-11. Apologie der Sinnlichkeit [Apology for sensibility]

§12. Vom Können in Ansehung des Erkennntnisvermögens überhaupt [On ability with regard to the cognitive powers in general]

§13. Von dem künstlichen Spiel mit dem Sinnenschein [On artificial play with sensory semblance]

§14. Von dem erlaubten moralischen Schein [On permissible moral semblance]

§§15-23. Von den fünf äußern Sinnen [On the five senses]

§24. Vom inneren Sinn [On inner sense]

§25. Von den Ursachen der Vermehrung oder Verminderung der Sinnenempfindungen dem Grade nach [On the causes that increase or decrease the intensity of our sense impressions]

§§26-30. Von der Hemmung, Schwächung und dem gänzlichen Verluste des Sinnenvermögens [On the inhibition, weakening, and total loss of the sense powers]

§§31-33. Von dem sinnlichen Dichtungsvermögen nach seinen vershiedenen Arten [On the constructive power belonging to sensibility according to its various forms]

§§34-36. Von dem Vermögen der Vergegenwärtigung des Vergangenen und Künftigen durch die Einbildungskraft [On the power of bringing the past and the future to mind by imagination]

§37. Von der unwillkürlichen Dichtung im gesunden Zustande, d.i. vom Traume [On involuntary invention in a state of health — that is, on dreaming]

§§38-39. vom Bezeichungsvermögen [On the power of using signs]

§40. Vom Erkenntnisvermögen, so fern es auf Verstand gegründet wird [On the cognitive power insofar as it is based on understanding]

§§41-44. [Anthropological comparison of the three higher cognitive powers with one another]

§§45-53. Von den Schwächen und Krankheiten der Seele in Ansehung ihres Erkenntnisvermögens [On deficiencies and diseases of the soul with respect to its cognitive power]

§§54-59. Von den Talenten im Erkenntnisvermögen, dem Witze, der Sagazität und der Originalität, oder dem Genie [On talents in the cognitive power, wit, sagacity, and orginality, or on genius]

Von der sinnlichen Lust [On sensuous pleasure]

§60-66. A. Vom Gefühl für das Angeneme, oder der sinnlichen Lust in der Empfindung eines Gegenstandes [On the feeling for the agreeable, or sensuous pleasure in the sensation of an object]

§§67-72. B. Vom Gefühl für das Schöne, oder dem Geschmack [On the feeling for the beautiful, or taste]

§§73-79. Von den Affekten [On affects]

§§80-86. Von den Leidenschaften [On the passions]

§§87-88. Von dem höchsten physischen Gut [On the highest physical good]

§Von dem höchsten moralisch-physischen Gut [On the highest moral-physical good]

A. Vom Charakter der Person [The character of the person]

1. Vom Naturell [On (a person’s) nature]

2. Vom Temperament [On temperament]

3. Vom Charakter als der Denkungsart [On character as a way of thinking]

Von der Physiognomik [On physiognomy]

B. Vom Charakter des Geschlechts [On the character of the sexes]

C. Vom Charakter des Volks [On the character of nations]

D. Vom Charakter der Rasse [On the character of races]

E. Vom Charakter der Gattung [On the character of the species]

Schilderung des Charakters der Menschengattung [Description of the character of the human species]

THE MANUSCRIPTS

(1) anonymous-Berlin 1 [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Location

Publications

(2) anonymous-Dingelstaedt [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Location

Publications

Dating

(3) anonymous-Elbing [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Location

(4) anonymous-Fernow [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Location

Dating

(5) anonymous-Forberg [list of notes] [top]

Physical Description and History

Location

Publications

Dating

(6) anonymous-Friedländer 1 [list of notes] [top]

Other Names

Physical Description and History

Location