The Postulate of Public Right

This Element offers a new interpretation of Kant's Doctrine of Right, asserting it as the culmination of his practical philosophy.

Patrick Capps (Author), Julian Rivers (Author)

9781009532730, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 January 2025

78 pages
23.5 x 16 x 1 cm, 0.26 kg

Kant's main work in the philosophy of law – the Doctrine of Right (1797) – is notoriously difficult for modern readers to understand. Kant clearly argues that rightful relations between human beings can only be achieved if we enter into a civil legal condition taking a defined constitutional form. In this Element, we emphasise that Kant considers this claim to be a postulate of practical reason, thus identifying the pure idea of the state as the culmination of his entire practical philosophy. The Doctrine of Right makes sense as an attempt to clarify the content of the postulate of public right and constructively interpret existing domestic and international legal arrangements in the light of the noumenal republic it postulates. Properly understood, Kant's postulate of public right is the epistemological foundation of a non-positivist legal theory that remains of central significance to modern legal philosophy and legal doctrinal method.

Preface
Introduction
1. From principle to postulate
2. Law in light of the noumenal republic
Afterword
List of abbreviations
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: History of Western philosophy [HPC]