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In this masterful work, both an illumination of Kant’s thought and an important contribution to contemporary legal and political theory, Arthur Ripstein gives a comprehensive yet accessible account of Kant’s political philosophy. Ripstein shows that Kant’s thought is organized around two central claims: first, that legal institutions are not simply responses to human limitations or circumstances; indeed the requirements of justice can be articulated without recourse to views about human inclinations and vulnerabilities. Second, Kant argues for a distinctive moral principle, which restricts the legitimate use of force to the creation of a system of equal freedom. Ripstein’s description of the unity and philosophical plausibility of this dimension of Kant’s thought will be a revelation to political and legal scholars. In addition to providing a clear and coherent statement of the most misunderstood of Kant’s ideas, Ripstein also shows that Kant’s views remain conceptually powerful and morally appealing today. Ripstein defends the idea of equal freedom by examining several substantive areas of law—private rights, constitutional law, police powers, and punishment—and by demonstrating the compelling advantages of the Kantian framework over competing approaches.
E-Book Content
Force and Freedom
Force and Freedom Kant’s Legal and Political Philosophy
Arthur Ripstein
Harvard University Press Cambridge, Massachusetts╇ .╇ London, En�gland 2009
Copyright © 2009 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ripstein, Arthur. Force and freedom : Kant’s legal and political philosophy / Arthur Ripstein. p.â•… cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-674-03506-5 (alk. paper) 1. Kant, Immanuel, 1724–1804—Political and social views.â•… 2. Law—Philosophy. I. Title. JC181.K4R57 2009 320.092—dc22â•…â•…â•… 2009000225
To Noah, Aviva, Karen l Fellow Kantians
Contents
Preface
ix
1. Kant on Law and Justice: An Overview
1
2. The Innate Right of Humanity
30
3. Private Right I: Acquired Rights
57
4. Private Right II: Property
86
5. Private Right III: Contract and Consent
107
6. Three Defects in the State of Nature
145
7. Public Right I: Giving Laws to Ourselves
182
8. Public Right II: Roads to Freedom
232
9. Public Right III: Redistribution and Equality of Opportunity
267
10. Public Right IV: Punishment
300
11. Public Right V: Revolution and the Right of Human Beings as Such
325
Appendix: “A Postulate Incapable of Further Proof ” Index
355 389
Preface
K
ant’s inÂ�fluÂ�ence on contemporary political philosophy is indisputable. The idea that citizens are “free and equal” figÂ�ures prominently in liberal thought, as do the value of autonomy and the demand that people be treated as ends rather than as mere means. Yet Kant himself lies outside the primary canon of political philosophy, his inÂ�fluÂ�ence largely indirect. Despite his insistence on a sharp distinction between questions of right and questions of ethics, the main path of inÂ�fluÂ�ence has been through the moral philosophy that he develops in the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. My aim in this book is to develop and defend Kant’s own statement of his political philosophy, particularly as he articulates it in the Doctrine of Right, the first part of the Metaphysics of Morals. I intend it as a work of political philosophy, which e