Freedom and Nature in Kant's Philosophy of History

In this paper we shall analyze to what limit the teleological conception of History outlined in Kant's legal and political writings (a conception which is based on the idea of a providential nature that guarantees the progress of the human genre) is in conflict with the conception of man as esentially free. With this goal in mind, we shall consider, in the first place, how the idea of Nature invoked in those works must be interpreted, by making explicit the arguments on which the claim that that idea does not imply any limitation whatsoever to human freedom is based. The realization of historical progress becomes an unavoidable challenge to each single man, who must be therefore considered responsible for the moral, political and legal development of his species.