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FreekGrootenboer
THETHREEPRINCIPLESOFKANT’SREPUBLIC:
ANINTERPRETATION
Kant’srepublicisbaseduponthreedifferentprinciples:freedom,equality,andamuch
debatedthirdone.ThisthirdprincipleseemstochangewithinKant'stextsthatdealwith
thetopic:whileintwotexts(ÜberdenGemeinspruchandDieMetaphysikderSitten,
Rechtslehre)heusesthetermindependence,inZumewigenFriedenheusesthetermde-
pendence.InthisshortarticleIwouldliketodemonstratetheimportanceofthesetwodif-
ferentconcepts,bothofwhichrefertothethirdprinciple,withouttheneedtochooseone
infavoroftheother.Thisinterpretationenablesmetoshowthepowerandrelevanceof
thesethreeprinciples,which,inmyopinion,canstillfunctionasthebasisofamodern
justsociety.
INTRODUCTION
Kant’sconceptoftherepublicenvisionstheidealstate:“Aperfectstate,gov-
ernedbytherulesofjustice,wherethemaximumhumanfreedomofanyindi-
vidualexiststogetherwiththemaximumofallothersandisguaranteedbyuni-
versallaws.”
1Therepublicfunctionsasaregulativeidea:itisaconceptofper-
fectionthatdoesnotexistinrealityyet,butguidesanddirectsalllawgiving
activitytowardsitself,anditsrealisation.Becausethefullyrealisedrepubliclies
inthefuture,Kantisnotabletogiveadetaileddescriptionofit.Theonlythings
hecansaysomethingaboutareitsbasicprinciples;theminimumrequirements
ofit.Byexplainingtheseprinciples,Kantcanapproachtheabsolutenormofthe
respublicanoumenon.
2Thesethreeprinciplesare:freedom,equality,andamuch
debatedthirdprinciple,onwhichthisarticlewillmainlyfocusitself.Thisthird
1KritikderreinenVernunft,A316,B373.
2DerStreitDerFakultaten,AA,VII,91;GW,XI,364.
