In this course we will read short essays written by Kant about history and the philosophy of history, and we will read secondary essays written by Kant scholars about these essays, in particular about one of them. Thus we will read “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?” (1784), “Idea for a Universal History with Cosmopolitan Aim” (1784), “On the Conjectural Beginning of Human History” (1786), parts from the Third Critique (1790), “On the common saying: That may be correct in theory, but it is of no use in practice” (1793), and parts form the Anthropology (1798). We will furthermore read the secondary essays collected in the book Kant’s Idea for a Universal History with Cosmopolitan Aim. A Critical Guide, edited by Rorty and Schmidt, Cambridge University Press 2009.