BODY AND PRACTICE IN KANT

ational powers are not developed in silent reflection, they are developed
in practice. Its whole body appears as an organ of rationality, a
rationality exercised in and through the acts corresponding to the
practices constituting its education.
A number of authors have commented upon Rousseau’s influence on
Kant. It is well known that Kant was so fascinated by Émile when he first
read it in 1764 that he abandoned his daily walks in order to continue
reading it. Kant was also familiar with Rousseau’s other works, as one of
his first biographers, Ludwig Ernst Borowski, testifies. 27 A possible sign of
Kant’s admiration is also the fact that the only work of art in his home
was a portrait of the French philosopher. 28
Even more conspicuous are a number of statements in which Kant
declares his admiration for Rousseau. One example may be found in his
Announcement written just after he had read Émile. Kant announces
that in his next lectures on ethics he will proceed according to the
method by which man is studied, not in the varying forms in which his
accidental circumstances have molded him, nor in the distorted form in
which even philosophers have almost always misconstrued him, but by
focusing on that which is enduring in human nature. Kant speaks of this
new approach as a ‘brilliant discovery of our time, which, when
considered in its full scheme, was completely unknown to the ancients’. 29
Even if Rousseau is not explicitly mentioned here, I agree with Pitte 30
that he is the originator of the brilliant discovery that Kant celebrates.
This is clear when we turn to comments made in Kant’s notes. There he
explicitly mentions that just as the theories of Newton had brought order,
regularity, and great simplicity into our conception of the universe, so
Rousseau had provided the key that would permit a neat and orderly
philosophy of man. 31 In a recent publication, Zammito characterizes the
intensity in Kant’s admiration for Rousseau by claiming that he was
never so enthusiastic in his reading of any other thinker. 32
If Kant’s admiration of Rousseau is a well-established fact, the nature
of Rousseau’s influence is more debated. Most authors emphasize the
ethical aspect of this influence. They see Rousseau as responsible for
what is often characterized as Kant’s ethical turn. According to Cassirer,
27
Cf. Gross (1993), 69.
28
Cf. e.g. Cassirer (1991), 3.
29
Cf. Pitte (1978), xiv.
30
Op. cit.
31
Cf. Cassirer (1991), 20.
32
Zammito (2002), 93.
RATIONALITY AND EMBODIED PRACTICE
93