LAW, STATE, REPUBLIC: An Interpretation and Defense of a Kantian Critical Reflective Constructivism

LSR will defend a novel interpretation of Kant’s Doctrine of Right which will allow a reevaluation of LSR will defend a novel interpretation of Kant’s Doctrine of Right which will allow a reevaluation of central issues of his political and juridical philosophy from both the historical and systematic points of view. It will also elaborate new Kantian perspectives for dealing with contemporary normative challenges in the fields of political philosophy, philosophy of law, and political and legal theory. It will investigate two groundbreaking hypotheses. First, that Kant's philosophy of law and right is permeated with the use of reflecting teleological judgment which influence the meaning and normative content of the rational principles of right. Teleology sets up a complex relationship between the a priori and the empirical levels, between practical reason and the pragmatical anthropology as well as between the procedural and dynamical aspects embodied in a specific conception of history. Second, that on a deep methodological level, Kant's philosophy can be understood as grounded in a reflective constructivism that can be developed and updated as a powerful philosophical method for dealing with complex problems about the relation of different forms of normativity, the issue of interdisciplinarity, and the relationship between theory and practice. From the development of those hypotheses, it will be investigated how Kant’s philosophy of right may present innovative solutions for issues such as the following: the relation between external coercion and normativity in the context of the theories of juridical positivism; the requirements concerning the ideal of the rule of law; the relation among the principles of right and history and anthropology; and issues regarding the legitimacy of property, economic and intergenerational justice, cosmopolitanism, human rights and democracy. This project therefore has three strands: a historical, a systematic and a methodological one.