Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction and methods of interpretation
- Chapter 1 The idea of the juridical state and the postulate of public law
- Chapter 2 The state of nature and the three leges
- Appendix to Chapter 2 Iustitia tutatrix, iustitia commutativa, and iustitia distributiva and their differences
- Chapter 3 The right to freedom
- Chapter 4 The permissive law in the Doctrine of Right
- Chapter 5 The external mine and thine
- Chapter 6 Intelligible possession of land
- Chapter 7 The “state in the idea”
- Chapter 8 The state in reality
- Chapter 9 International and cosmopolitan law
- Chapter 10 The “idea of public law” and its limits
- Chapter 11 Contract law I. Why must I keep my promise?
- Chapter 12 Contract law II. Kant's table of contracts
- Chapter 13 Criminal punishment
- Chapter 14 The human being as a person
- Appendix I to Chapter 14 On the logic of “‘ought’ implies ‘can’”
- Appendix II to Chapter 14 The system of rules of imputation
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 3 - The right to freedom
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction and methods of interpretation
- Chapter 1 The idea of the juridical state and the postulate of public law
- Chapter 2 The state of nature and the three leges
- Appendix to Chapter 2 Iustitia tutatrix, iustitia commutativa, and iustitia distributiva and their differences
- Chapter 3 The right to freedom
- Chapter 4 The permissive law in the Doctrine of Right
- Chapter 5 The external mine and thine
- Chapter 6 Intelligible possession of land
- Chapter 7 The “state in the idea”
- Chapter 8 The state in reality
- Chapter 9 International and cosmopolitan law
- Chapter 10 The “idea of public law” and its limits
- Chapter 11 Contract law I. Why must I keep my promise?
- Chapter 12 Contract law II. Kant's table of contracts
- Chapter 13 Criminal punishment
- Chapter 14 The human being as a person
- Appendix I to Chapter 14 On the logic of “‘ought’ implies ‘can’”
- Appendix II to Chapter 14 The system of rules of imputation
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In section 1 of this chapter, we examine the right to freedom as Kant understands and posits it in his axiom of external freedom. We are examining this axiom because it is an assumption upon which Kant's entire system of rights is built. Kant conceives of the right to external freedom broadly. It thus comprises a number of rights we might see today as being distinct from the right to external freedom, such as the right to a good name or the right to equal protection under the law. In section 2 we consider Kant's notion of internal freedom both in the negative and positive sense to set the stage for our argument in section 3 that external freedom also has a negative and a positive aspect to it. The negative aspect of external freedom is well known but the positive is not. We argue that the positive aspect is embodied in the postulate of public law, which commands us to move to a juridical state, where individual rights are secured. In section 4, we draw two conclusions from the right to external freedom. In section 4A, we claim that because Kant's command is to move to a juridical state, his prohibition against revolution refers to revolting in a juridical state and not in some despotic state. So understood, Kant's seemingly extreme stance against revolution becomes more appealing. Indeed, the prohibition against revolution is merely the opposite side of the coin to the postulate of public law.
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- Kant's Doctrine of RightA Commentary, pp. 77 - 93Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010