Kant’s Hylomorphic Formulation of Right and the Necessity of the State

Kant Studien 114 (3):539-564 (2023)
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Abstract

This paper argues against the common justification for the necessity of the state through the particular difficulty of private property right. Instead, I argue that the necessity of the state is internal to the concept of right in general. In order to show this, I point out how Kants adoption of hylomorphic language for the concept of right, where there is a formal and material aspect of right, allows us to understand the Rechtslehre as progressing through a syllogistic deduction from innate right (major), private right (minor) to public right (conclusion). Material right is made necessary through its subsumption under formal right in the civil condition.

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Mike Gregory
University of Edinburgh

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