scholarly journals Immanuel Kant and the Question of Certainty in Politics

Problemos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 75-86
Author(s):  
Alvydas Jokubaitis
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Practical Reason ◽  
Universal Law

Researchers of Kant’s political philosophy have not paid enough attention to the problem of certainty in politics which is inseparable from the distinction between phenomenon and noumenon. The primacy of practical reason means that morality has a higher value than knowledge. This is a fundamental presupposition of Kant’s philosophy. However, this emphasis on the importance of morality leads to the problematic question of certainty in politics. The recognition of the primacy of morality seems to lead to a situation where politics loses the certainty that belongs to the sphere of noumenon. Such a situation seems to lead to an impossible situation when the distinction between phenomenon and noumenon reappears in the theory of practical reason. The paper puts forward a thesis that for Kant morality is the only ground that allows speaking about the certainty of politics. However, his understanding of certainty in politics has its drawbacks. Politics is dependent not only on the ontology of morality that was emphasized by Kant, but it is also dependent on the kind of certainty that one finds in the sphere of interpersonal relationships. Kant did not pay enough attention to this aspect which remains outside the sphere of the universal law of morality.

scholarly journals Between Kantian Rationalism and Moral Mysticism: The Search for the Grounding of Morality in the Philosophy of A. Jokubaitis

Politologija ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 73-94
Author(s):  
Aistė Noreikaitė
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Practical Reason ◽  
First Person ◽  
The Third ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Moral Subject ◽  
First Person Perspective ◽  
The One ◽  
Implicit Normativity

Although it is common to associate the thought of A. Jokubaitis with political philosophy, this article argues that his texts also allow us to talk about a specific moral philosophy of A. Jokubaitis. At the center of it we find an attempt to articulate and discuss the grounding ideas of morality. The article argues that the first two ideas – an idea of unconditional character of morality and an idea of ontological grounding – are related to Kant’s influence on A. Jokubaitis philosophy. These two ideas allow us to explain morality as an autonomous part of reality, which is different from the empirical one but nonetheless real. This part of reality is grounded in the first-person perspective of a moral subject and can be characterized by implicit normativity and unconditionality. The first-person perspective structures a radically different relation to our reality, which allows us to be agents, not simply spectators. Such an interpretation of Kant allows to associate A. Jokubaitis with his contemporary Kantians, such as Ch. Korsgaard, B. Herman, O. O’Neill, and A. Reath. However, the third idea, the one of a person, which becomes more visible in his book Politinis idiotas, transcends the Kantian conception of practical reason and encourages to perceive morality and its grounding in a much wider context. The concept of a person allows A. Jokubaitis to distance himself from Kantian rationalism and integrate social and mystical aspects of morality, which he has always found important.

James Madison and the Problem of Founding

1996 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 561-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Practical Reason ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
James Madison ◽  
Social Compact ◽  
Classical Notion ◽  
The Social ◽  
Basic Features

Though indebted to the social compact for the basic features of his political thought, James Madison found the doctrine inadequate in one essential respect: its failure to provide an account of founding. Of course, this is no simple oversight in liberal political philosophy. It reflects deep misgivings about prudence—especially when understood in its “architechtonic” sense as the height of practical reason—and the inequalities that it implies. Madison addresses this problem in Federalist, Nos. 37–40, his fullest treatment of the activities of the Federal Convention. Here he defends the classical notion of prudence, describing its relationship to the modern science of politics and suggesting how it can be reconciled with modern egalitarian principles.

The Twilight of Utilitarianism

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-52
Author(s):  
Albert Weale
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Practical Reason ◽  
Utility Theory ◽  
Contract Theory ◽  
Practical Reasoning ◽  
Social Contract Theory ◽  
Separateness Of Persons

Social contract theory arose as a response to the twilight of utilitarianism. For many years utilitarianism had been seen as a political philosophy of human emancipation. Like social contract theory, utilitarianism was a critical and rationalistic morality. However, it was judged incapable of recognizing the separateness of persons, the claim by each person to be treated with justice. Utilitarianism defined the good in terms of pleasure, conceived in a naturalistic way. It regarded pleasure as the guide to choice. It promised to provide an intellectual framework within which everyday intuitive morality could be rendered consistent. And it sought to ground action in practical reasoning about the promotion of the good. However, these distinctive elements came under challenge. With the rise of modern utility theory, pleasure was no longer thought of as the guide to choice. Pleasure was no longer conceived as the sole good. Doubts were raised about the extent to which the principle of utility could explicate the principle of justice. And even utilitarianism had to concede the dualism of practical reason. One response was the rise of intuitionism in the early part of the twentieth century. Another response was the rise of social contract theory, as discussed in this book.

scholarly journals I. Kant’s conservative liberalism from the standpoint of E. Burke’s liberal conservatism

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-64
Author(s):  
Andrey S. Zilber ◽  
◽  
Sergey V. Lugovoy ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Reform Policy ◽  
German Translation ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Modern Conservatism ◽  
The Common ◽  
Universal Law ◽  
The French Revolution

I. Kant and E. Burke both presented and developed their political views in 1790s in the common context of the French Revolution. We compare their views in two aspects. First, we consider the question whether Kant in his writings has implicitly referred to Burke’s pamphlet “Reflections on the Revolution in France”. In our view, it remains unproven and doubtful that Kant had read this book (in German translation). Second, we consider Kant’s political views as liberal and Burke’s ones as conservative. We rely on those scholars who distinguish liberalism and conservatism building on the anthropological foundations of political philosophy. Some scholars define Kant’s moderate liberalism as a variation of conservatism, although Kant explicitly criticizes a number of ultra-conser­vative views. Burke is widely known as the founder of modern conservatism but also has substantial liberal points in his views. Both philosophers sought to find balance between stability and improvement of a political order, but they propose completely different cri­teria for a reform policy. For Kant, all reforms should aim to realize the abstract ideal of universal law. Alongside, Kant recommends only moderate and prudent reforms in or­der to preserve the freedom and safety of states as political organisms. Burke views re­forms as a means of reconciling traditions and customs with changing circumstances. Our conclusion is that Burke cannot be named among the prototypes of those ultra-con­servatives whom Kant describes as the most implacable opponents of his views. We sup­port the assessment of Kant’s position as conservative liberalism and Burke's position as liberal conservatism. This perspective reveals a certain similarity of their views despite their fundamental differences.

24. Kant

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin A. Flikschuh
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Political Obligation ◽  
Practical Philosophy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
Short Biography ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines the political ideas of Immanuel Kant. Kant is widely regarded as a precursor to current political liberalism. There are many aspects of Kant's political philosophy, including his property argument, that remain poorly understood and unjustly neglected. Many other aspects, including his cosmopolitanism, reveal Kant as perhaps one of the most systematic and consistent political thinkers. Underlying all these aspects of his political philosophy is an abiding commitment to his epistemological method of transcendental idealism. After providing a short biography of Kant, this chapter considers his epistemology as well as the relationship between virtue and justice in his practical philosophy. It also explores a number of themes in Kant's political thinking, including the idea of external freedom, the nature of political obligation, the vindication of property rights, the denial of a right to revolution, and the cosmopolitan scope of Kantian justice.

Il Cielo Stellato Sopra di Me e la Legge Morale in Me

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (39) ◽  
pp. 45-54
Author(s):  
Marco Sgarbi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Practical Reason ◽  
Moral Law ◽  
The Sublime ◽  
The Mind

«Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily reflection is occupied with them: the starry heaven above me and the moral law within me». With these famous words written on paper and inscribed in stone, Immanuel Kant concludes the Critique of Practical Reason. In this paper, I intend to show how this sentence is closely linked with: 1) the kantian doctrine on the sublime and 2) to the foundation of the logic of the irrational in the Critique of Judgement.

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