Kant on the state

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"Man in the State... has totally abandoned his wild lawless freedom in order to find his entire freedom again undiminished in a lawful dependence... because this dependence springs from his own legislative will." -- Immanuel Kant, Philosophy of Right

Comments

  1. Samson Corwell9:12 PM

    Law is necessary for freedom. That is a position I'm in full concurrence with. Kant's argument for government is rather interesting: the state is necessary for making property rights "solid" (my wording for "official"). No state = no possibility of property rights. The state of nature represents mere possession and society with a state enables ownership. It's similar to what you've been saying with regards to civil society and property and presupposition of authority. You seen his argument for property?

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  2. gcallah9:24 PM

    I have not, but it sounds much like Rousseau's... Which is not surprising, as Kant credits Rousseau as a major influence.

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  3. James Caton11:59 AM

    I Kant stand it!

    ReplyDelete

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