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Chapter 2 - Innate Right

Kant and the Natural Law Tradition

from Part I - The Moral Necessity of the State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  aN Invalid Date NaN

Paul Guyer
Affiliation:
Brown University, Rhode Island
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Summary

On Kant’s account, the innate right to freedom follows directly from the obligation to treat the humanity in each person as an end in itself, for humanity essentially includes the capacity of each to set their own ends. The General Principle of Right, that each should have as much freedom of choice as can coexist with the freedom of all in accordance with a universal law, is grounded on the innate right to freedom. The categories of acquired right, namely, private right including the right to property, and public right as the right to membership in a state to make the claims of innate and private right determinate and secure, are grounded on the innate right to freedom and the General Principle of Right. Innate right should include the right to acquire acquired rights, such as property rights, as it does for all of Kant’s predecessors and for Kant himself in the Naturrecht Feyerabend lectures, Kant’s sole surviving lectures on natural right.

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  • Innate Right
  • Paul Guyer, Brown University, Rhode Island
  • Book: Selected Essays on Kant I
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009647229.005
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  • Innate Right
  • Paul Guyer, Brown University, Rhode Island
  • Book: Selected Essays on Kant I
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009647229.005
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Innate Right
  • Paul Guyer, Brown University, Rhode Island
  • Book: Selected Essays on Kant I
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009647229.005
Available formats
×