Hat Kants Universalismus ausgedient?

Moral universalism is obsolete for some, it has always been untenable for others. Irritating statements in the oeuvre of its most respected representative, Immanuel Kant, seem to bring it emphatically into disrepute. The philosopher of freedom, autonomy, human dignity, the rule of law, of universal peace is confronted with accusations of racism, sexism, homophobia, classism and anti-Semitism in several of his writings. Is Kant’s universalism ultimately nothing more than a facade with racist and colonial thinking behind? Is Kant’s universalism obsolete? Does this finally indicate that moral universalism in general is obsolete? I argue that whatever will be an adequate interpretation of those anti-universalist statements in Kant, (i) the systematic core of Kant’s moral philosophy is universalism, and (ii) Kant’s universalism is not only far from being obsolete, but it conceives of the presuppositions of what constitutes a moral standpoint in general.