Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction and methods of interpretation
- Chapter 1 The idea of the juridical state and the postulate of public law
- Chapter 2 The state of nature and the three leges
- Appendix to Chapter 2 Iustitia tutatrix, iustitia commutativa, and iustitia distributiva and their differences
- Chapter 3 The right to freedom
- Chapter 4 The permissive law in the Doctrine of Right
- Chapter 5 The external mine and thine
- Chapter 6 Intelligible possession of land
- Chapter 7 The “state in the idea”
- Chapter 8 The state in reality
- Chapter 9 International and cosmopolitan law
- Chapter 10 The “idea of public law” and its limits
- Chapter 11 Contract law I. Why must I keep my promise?
- Chapter 12 Contract law II. Kant's table of contracts
- Chapter 13 Criminal punishment
- Chapter 14 The human being as a person
- Appendix I to Chapter 14 On the logic of “‘ought’ implies ‘can’”
- Appendix II to Chapter 14 The system of rules of imputation
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 7 - The “state in the idea”
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction and methods of interpretation
- Chapter 1 The idea of the juridical state and the postulate of public law
- Chapter 2 The state of nature and the three leges
- Appendix to Chapter 2 Iustitia tutatrix, iustitia commutativa, and iustitia distributiva and their differences
- Chapter 3 The right to freedom
- Chapter 4 The permissive law in the Doctrine of Right
- Chapter 5 The external mine and thine
- Chapter 6 Intelligible possession of land
- Chapter 7 The “state in the idea”
- Chapter 8 The state in reality
- Chapter 9 International and cosmopolitan law
- Chapter 10 The “idea of public law” and its limits
- Chapter 11 Contract law I. Why must I keep my promise?
- Chapter 12 Contract law II. Kant's table of contracts
- Chapter 13 Criminal punishment
- Chapter 14 The human being as a person
- Appendix I to Chapter 14 On the logic of “‘ought’ implies ‘can’”
- Appendix II to Chapter 14 The system of rules of imputation
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In this chapter, we examine the “state in the idea,” which is the state operating under ideal constitutional principles and the norm for any juridical state actually founded by human beings. We first differentiate between the state in the idea and a juridical state (section 1). We then address §45 of the Doctrine of Right and Kant's distinction of three state powers: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. In §45, Kant compares this tripartite distinction to the three propositions in a practical syllogism. We consider this comparison and the nature of the three powers in section 2. In particular, we discuss the nature of the executive power, which seems less intuitive than the nature of the other two powers. In section 3, we examine Kant's understanding of theoretical and practical syllogisms of reason. In section 4 we show that Kant's comparison of the three state powers to the propositions in a practical syllogism is indeed plausible. In section 5, we consider the three state powers in connection with their attributes: the irreprehensibility of the legislative power, the irresistibility of the executive power, and the inappellability of the judicial power. Finally, we discuss Kant's arguments for why these three powers must be separated (section 6).
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- Information
- Kant's Doctrine of RightA Commentary, pp. 143 - 167Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010