Il carteggio Kant-von Herbert : un semplice caso di patologizzazione della soggettività femminile?

The Author analyses the relationship between the philosopher Immanuel Kant and the Austrian noblewoman Maria von Herbert through their brief correspondence from 1791 to 1794. After reconstructing the history of their exchange and Kant's responses to her questions, the paper focuses on Kantian considerations about von Herbert as "little visionary" [die kleine Schwärmerin], especially regarding his interest in mental illnesses, which he explores in depth in "Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View" (1798). Far from offering only a critical view of Kant's often elusive responses to the young woman, the essay considers a possible (not solely negative) reinterpretation of female knowledge and imagination in their epistemic value. [Publisher's text]