Immanuel Kant, *Four Neglected Essays*
    Originally translated anonymously in 1798-99

Ed. by Stephen Palmquist, D.Phil. (Oxon). Philopsychy Press (P.O. Box 1224, 
Shatin, Hong Kong), 1994. 128 pages. Bibliography of English Translations. 
Softcover. US$10 (air) or US$7 (sea).

    The four essays included in this book were originally published as part of 
the only English translation of Immanuel Kant's work known to be published 
during his lifetime: a two-volume collection of nineteen writings, entitled 
*Essays and Treatises on Moral, Political, Religious and Various Philosophical 
Subjects* (1798-99). The translator remained anonymous, as a result of which 
scholars have identified him variously as John Richardson (e.g., in William 
Wallace's *Kant*), A.F.M. Willich (e.g., in Stanley Jaki's Notes to his 
translation of Kant's *Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens*), 
and J.S. Beck (e.g., in D.E. Walford and Ralf Meerbote's recent *Early 
Theoretical Essays*). Unfortunately, the book was never reprinted, so it soon 
passed into virtual oblivion.
    Most of the writings in this early translation have been subsequently re-
translated by other scholars--though not always with as much care to stick 
closely to Kant's original German text. However, those reprinted in *Four 
Neglected Essays* have never been re-translated, so they have remained largely 
unnoticed by most English speaking Kant-scholars. Palmquist presents them here 
in a thoroughly edited form, with numerous references to the original German, 
though he preserves for the most part the often entertaining linguistic 
constructions of the original translation.
    The titles of the four essays are: "History and Physiography of the Most 
Remarkable Cases of the Earthquake which towards the End of 1755 Shook a Great 
Part of the Earth" (1756); "On the Volcanos in the Moon" (1785); "On the 
Injustice of Counterfeiting Books" (1785); and "Something on the Influence of 
the Moon on the Temperature of the Air" (1794). Although they are certainly not 
among Kant's most important writings, neither are they wholly irrelevant to his 
philosophical project. Three were written after the 1781 publication of his 
epoch-making *Critique of Pure Reason*, so they provide a glimpse of what 
occupied Kant's mind when he was not working on constructing his massive 
Critical System. Moreover, one essay deals with an issue that can be classified 
as a subtopic in his moral system. And the other three show that Kant's 
interest in what was then called "Natural Philosophy" was not merely a youthful 
whim, but persisted throughout his life. 
    The book includes four Appendices: (1) an Introduction, in which the editor 
demonstrates that John Richardson was the actual translator, gives a brief 
biographical sketch of Richardson's life, and highlights several significant 
points of interest in the essays themselves; (2) translations of two previously 
untranslated letters between Richardson and Kant; (3) a "Sketch of Kant's Life 
and Writings" by Richardson; and (4) an updated version of the Exhaustive 
Bibliography of English Translations of Kant's Writings, previously published 
in Palmquist's book, *Kant's System of Perspectives*.