Abstract

As an Enlightener Kant must have connections with humanism. By developing this thesis, the article firstly shows Kant’s belonging to the «humanistic family» thanks to the idea of humanity. Then, more specifically, the article identify some textual evidence of the humanistic tradition in the Kantian work. The figure of Weltmann, the doctrine of virtues, the role of good manners, are a legacy of the humanistic ethics as an art of living. This art is essential to fulfill pure moral duties as well, at the crossroads between personality, rationality and reality. Morality is implemented as a virtue, but virtue requires the formation of the person and the development of a «worldly prudence»: that self- and contingency government that was at the center of humanistic reflection on man.