OCR
not start recently, but when one tribe strayed into the hunting grounds of another. They found themselves faced with strangers who were different from them. They were obviously surprised, a little amazed, and then they struck. And maybe not even in that order. Then suddenly a multitude of aliens formed around the same. Is it not ironic? They all have different skin color, different hair, different habits, different language, different social structure, etc. But then, who is the other? The different. These were called races, and on top of that they also used this unclear term to denote what we call species. Let us take a closer look. The concept of race was introduced by François Bernier (1620 - 1688) at the end of the 17th century, but it became known and codified in the middle of the 18th century. Differences between races became more and more differentiated, especially as differences in values became more and more apparent in conflicts both big and small. The question inevitably arises: why the 18th century? After all, the great geographical discoveries, when Europeans encountered people in distant places, took place much earlier. Yes, distant peoples were obviously known before, but philosophical—more precisely, cultural-philosophical—reflection is still a product of the 18th century. Until then, non-Europeans were simply looked down upon or not counted. They were good slaves, objects that could talk. This did not change for a long time, but when sciences such as comparative religion or comparative linguistics were born, it was out of a desire to understand them. (A German, Max Müller, founded the Institute of Comparative Religious Studies at Oxford in the late 19th century.) At this time philosophy also added to this process, no less than in the person of Immanuel Kant, among others. Kant best expresses what the travels and discoveries meant