Kant on Engaging Other Agents and Observing Reason at Work

I argue on systematic and textual grounds that Kant recommends that practical philosophers engage other agents as part of their theorizing. This engagement happens chiefly via confronting other agents with thought experiments or stipulated moral scenarios. I explain the specific contributions of this method for Kant’s philosophy, and show how it is possible despite Kant’s insistence that practical philosophy must be pure. Finally, I explain Kant’s specific recommendations to engage other agents for the purpose of practical philosophy. My argument is directed against a number of recent Kant interpretations that conceive of Kant’s ethics as solely first-personal.