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From the Stoics’ Oikeiōsis to Kant’s Orientierung
from Part III - Human Feeling and Ethical Development
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 July 2025
Kant’s account of the function of orientation vis-à-vis human agency has been the subject of a recent debate in the literature. On the reading this chapter puts forward, orientation consists in giving me a sense of myself and my activity in relation to the world so that I can reach the destination I have chosen. By contrast, Melissa Merritt has argued that orientating myself consists in having a sense of the direction I should follow in order to realize my rational vocation. This chapter revisits this debate by examining Kant’s notion of orientation through the prism of the Stoic notion of oikeiōsis. While Kant and the Stoics share the view that agency requires orientation and orientation requires a certain form of self-awareness, they disagree on the function of orientation, and locating the source of their disagreement will shed light on Kant’s account.
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