Immanuel Kant: Political and Legal Philosophy

Kant is an influential figure for contemporary political philosophy. Although this influence was long due to an application of Kant’s ethical theory to political questions, Kant’s political writings, and, more recently, his legal philosophy have been rediscovered thanks to exegetical work refuting superficial interpretations and traditional clichés of Kant’s theory. Additionally, new applications of Kant’s legal-political philosophy show its continuing relevance to contemporary political problems. Kant’s legal and political thought are deeply interconnected. There are two reasons for this. First, the normative priority of Right (Recht) over politics. Politics must conform to Right (Recht) and not the other way around (8: 429). Politics should be thus regarded as “ausübende Rechtslehre”: as applied Doctrine of Right. Kant thinks that if this normative relation is upheld, politics will not conflict with morality (8: 370). Second, the way Kant attempts to mediate between pure reason and empirical reality, between a “metaphysics of Right” and imperfect political societies. Because we must also realize the requirements of reason, Kant is careful to ensure that what reason commands is at least not ruled out or made impossible by natural mechanisms, human nature, and the historical development of particular political communities. The world and human affairs must be such as to enable ideals of reason to guide us in changing the world and our lives. Kant’s views on politics are known mainly from the so called “shorter political writings”: “On the Common Saying: That may be correct in theory, but it is of no use in practice” (1793), Toward Perpetual Peace (1793), and The Conflict of the Faculties (1798). But Kant’s political views are not confined to these, and they are also scattered in other works, such as in his writings on anthropology, history, teleology, and aesthetics. The Critique of Pure Reason (1781), Kant’s revolutionary work on the nature and limits of knowledge, is also relevant, although there are discussions whether it is possible to engage with Kant’s legal-political thought without embracing his transcendental idealism, which some regard as contentious. Unfortunately, Kant’s legal theory has not received the same attention as his political philosophy. This has been changing in the last twenty years with the publication of seminal scholarly work on Kant’s legal thought. Kant’s legal philosophy and his mature views on political philosophy are developed in the Doctrine of Right, the first part of the later work titled The Metaphysics of Morals (1797). This work has long been dismissed as the work of a senile mind, an attitude expressed early on by Fichte and Schopenhauer. Some now regard the Doctrine of Right as one of the greatest philosophical works in legal philosophy.