Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Right's Complex Relation to Ethics in Kant: the limits of Independentism

Baiasu

Right's Complex Relation to Ethics in Kant: the limits of Independentism Thumbnail


Authors



Abstract

The recent literature on the relation in Kant between duties of right and duties of virtue is dominated by a debate on whether duties of right can be derived from duties of virtue. According to one important argument, there is a tension or even a paradox in Kant between various claims concerning juridical norms, a paradox which can best be solved by assuming an “Independentist” position, that is, the view that the Universal Principle of Right is independent from the Categorical Imperative and, hence, that duties of right are normatively independent from duties of virtue. My claim in this paper is that the paradox which supports the independentist reading affects Kant’s claims only when the focus is on the subjective validity of duties. Once the focus is changed to objective validity, with which Kant is actually concerned, the paradox is dissolved and the Universal Principle of Right can appear as normatively dependent on the Categorical Imperative. In other words, in this paper, I argue that the scope of the paradox of juridical norms is confined to a specific focus and independentism (the view that duties of right are independent from duties of virtue) is confined in a similar way. Hence, the complexity of Kant’s account makes it possible for him to accommodate both independentist and dependentist views of the relation between right and virtue.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 7, 2015
Online Publication Date Mar 20, 2016
Publication Date Jan 20, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Kant Studien: philosophische Zeitschrift der Kant-Gesellschaft
Print ISSN 0022-8877
Publisher De Gruyter
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 107
Issue 1
Pages 2 -33
DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/kant-2016-0002
Keywords Universal Principle of Right; Categorical Imperative; duties of right; duties of virtue; paradox of juridical imperatives
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/kant-2016-0002

Files




You might also like



Downloadable Citations