Politics and Metaphysics in Kant

Description

The past three decades have witnessed the emergence of several Kantian theories. Both the critical reaction to consequentialism inspired by Rawlsian constructivism and the universalism of more recent theories informed by Habermasian discourse ethics trace their main sources of inspiration back to Kant's writings.
1. Metaphysics and Politics in the Wake of Kant: The Project of a Critical Practical Philosophy (Sorin Baiasu, Sami Pihlstrom and Howard Williams) 2. Kant's Constructivism and Rational Justification (Kenneth R. Westphal) 3. Political, Not Metaphysical, Yet Kantian? A Defense of Rawls (Alyssa R. Bernstein) 4. On the Conditions of Discourse and Being: Kantian, Wittgensteinian, and Levinasian Perspectives on the Relation between Metaphysics and Ethics (Sami Pihlstrom) 5. One Community or Many? From Logic to Juridical Law via Metaphysics (Lucas Thorpe) 6. Kant's Rechtslehre and Ideas of Reason (Tatiana Patrone) 7. Practical Agency, Teleology and System in Kant's Architectonic of Pure Reason (Lea Ypi) 8. What a Kantian Can Know A Priori: An Argument for Moral Cognitivism (Katerina Deligiorgi) 9. Metaphysics and Moral Judgement (Sorin Baiasu) 10. 'Intelligible Facts': Toward a Constructivist Account of Action and Responsibility (Garrath Williams) 11. Metaphysical and Not Just Political (Howard Williams) 12. Cosmopolitan Right: State and System in Kant's Political Theory (Sharon Anderson-Gold) 13. The Metaphysics of International Law: Kant's 'Unjust Enemy' and the Limitation of Self- Authorization (Oliver Eberl)

Sujets

• Political Ideologies
• Political Science

Informations

• Publié par: University of Wales Press
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780708323786
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Political Philosophy Now
Politics and Metaphysics
in Kant
Edited by
Sorin Baiasu, Sami Pihlström and
Howard Williams
University of Wales Presspolitical philosophy now
PMK.indd 1 23/06/2011 12:33:23Chief Editor of the Series:
Howard Williams, Aberystwyth University, Wales
Associate Editors:
Wolfgang Kersting, University of Kiel, Germany
Steven B. Smith, Yale University, USA
Peter Nicholson, University of York, England
Renato Cristi, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada
Political Philosophy Now is a series which deals with authors,
topics and periods in political philosophy from the perspective of
their relevance to current debates. The series presents a spread of
subjects and points of view from various traditions which include
European and New World debates in political philosophy.
For other titles in this series, please see the University of Wales Press
website: www.uwp.co.uk
PMK.indd 2 23/06/2011 12:33:23political philosophy now
Politics and Metaphysics
in Kant
Edited by s orin Baiasu, s ami pihlström and
h oward w illiams
Un iVERs ity o F w al Es pREs s • ca Rd iFF • 2011
PMK.indd 3 23/06/2011 12:33:23© The Contributors, 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium
by electronic means and whether or not transiently or
incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written
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provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce
any part of this publication should be addressed to The
University of Wales Press, 10 Columbus Walk, Brigantine Place, Cardiff
CF10 4UP.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library.
ISBN 978-0-7083-2377-9
e-ISBN 978-0-7083-2378-6
The right of the Contributors to be identified as authors of this
work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77, 78
and 79 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Printed by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire
PMK.indd 4 23/06/2011 12:33:23Contents
Abbreviations and References to Kant’s Works vii
1 Metaphysics and Politics in the Wake of Kant:
The Project of a Critical Practical Philosophy 1
Sorin Baiasu, Sami Pihlström and Howard Williams
2 Kant’s Moral Constructivism and Rational Justification 28
Kenneth R. Westphal
3 Political, not Metaphysical, yet Kantian? A Defence
of Rawls 47
Alyssa R. Bernstein
4 On the Conditions of Discourse and Being: Kantian,
Wittgensteinian and Levinasian Perspectives on
the Relation between Metaphysics and Ethics 71
Sami Pihlström
5 One Community or Many? From Logic to Juridical
Law via Metaphysics 97
Lucas Thorpe
6 Kant’s Rechtslehre and Ideas of Reason 115
Tatiana Patrone
7 Practical Agency, Teleology and System in Kant’s
Architectonic of Pure Reason 134
Lea Ypi
8 What a Kantian Can Know A Priori: An Argument
for Moral Cognitivism 152
Katerina Deligiorgi
PMK.indd 5 23/06/2011 12:33:239 Metaphysics and Moral Judgement 174
Sorin Baiasu
10 ‘Intelligible Facts’: T oward a Constructivist Account
of Action and Responsibility 196
Garrath Williams
11 Metaphysical and not just Political 215
Howard Williams
12 Cosmopolitan Right: State and System in Kant’ s
Political Theory 235
Sharon Anderson-Gold
13 The Metaphysics of International Law: Kant’ s ‘Unjust
Enemy’ and the Limitation of Self-Authorization 250
Oliver Eberl
Index 271
PMK.indd 6 23/06/2011 12:33:23Abbreviations and References to
Kant’s Works
The following abbreviations for Kant’s works are used throughout
this book:
AA Akademie-Ausgabe
Anth Anthropologie in pragmatischer Hinsicht (AA 07)
GMS Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten (AA 04)
IaG Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in
weltbürgerlicher Absicht (AA 08)
KpV Kritik der praktischen Vernunft (AA 05)
KrV Kritik der reinen Vernunft
KU Kritik der Urteilskraft (AA 05)
Log Logik (AA 09)
MpVT Über das Mißlingen aller philosophischen
Versuche in der Theodicee (AA 08)
MS Die Metaphysik der Sitten (AA 06)
Prol Prolegomena zu einer jeden künftigen
Metaphysik (AA 04)
Refl Reflexion (AA 14–19)
RGV Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen
Vernunft (AA 06)
TP Über den Gemeinspruch: Das mag in der
Theorie richtig sein, taugt aber nicht für die
Praxis (AA 08)
V-Eth/Vigil Vorlesungen über Ethik Vigilantius (AA 27)
V-MP/Dohna Kant Metaphysik Dohna (AA 28)
V-MP-L2/Pölitz Kant Metaphysik L2 (Pölitz, Original) (AA 28)
VRML Über ein vermeintes Recht, aus Menschenliebe
zu lügen (AA 08)
ZeF Zum ewigen Frieden (AA 08)
In references, abbreviations will be followed by the volume and
page number from Kant’s Gesammelte Schriften (Berlin: vols
PMK.indd 7 23/06/2011 12:33:23Viii politics and M Etaphysics in Kant
1–22, Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften; vol. 23, Deutsche
Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin; vols 24–, Akademie der
Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 1900–). Translations used are listed
under ‘References’ for each paper. References to the Critique of
Pure Reason will follow the A (first edition), B (second edition)
convention.
PMK.indd 8 23/06/2011 12:33:231 • Metaphysics and Politics in the Wake
of Kant: The Project of a Critical
Practical Philosophy
Sorin Baiasu, Sami Pihlström and Howard Williams
Hence human reason, ever since it has been thinking or – rather –
meditating, has never been able to dispense with a metaphysics, yet has
nonetheless been unable to expound one that was sufficiently purified
of everything extraneous. The idea of such a science is just as old as
speculative human reason; and what reason is there that does not
speculate, whether such a speculation be done in a scholastic or in a popular
manner? (KrV A842/B870)
1. h istorical contexts
The past three decades have witnessed the emergence, at the
forefront of political thought, of several Kantian theories. Both the
critical reaction to consequentialism inspired by Rawlsian
constructivism and the universalism of more recent theories informed
by Habermasian discourse ethics, for instance, trace their main
sources of inspiration back to Kant’s writings. Yet much of what
is Kantian in contemporary theory is formulated with more or
less strict caveats concerning Kant’s metaphysics. These range
from radical claims that theories of justice must be political, not
metaphysical, to more cautious calls for replacing Kant’s
metaphysics with a less demanding ontology, such as one informed, for
instance, by the relatively recent linguistic turn in philosophy.
What motivates such a reluctant attitude towards
metaphysics among Kantian scholars? To begin with, the very meaning of
metaphysics is deeply contested: depending on whether the word
‘metaphysics’ is used critically, approvingly or merely
descriptively, and depending on what those who practise metaphysics
take themselves to be doing, the word ‘metaphysics’ will refer to
PMK.indd 1 23/06/2011 12:33:232 politics and M Etaphysics in Kant
distinct and sometimes even contradictory areas of inquiry. Apart
from the more technical difficulty of finding a definition of the
term that would meet with at least general agreement,
philosophers and especially political philosophers seem to have a reflex
reaction of rejection and alarm at the very mention of the word
‘metaphysics’.
For the wary amongst us, the term evokes fundamentalist
conviction, obscurantist argumentation and deep complication. It is,
therefore, no surprise that metaphysics has often not had a good
press in moral and political philosophy and has not received
entirely favourable treatment even amongst philosophers, such
as Kant and Hegel, who have ended up espousing it. Amongst its
critics, the name of metaphysics has conjured visions of abstract,
over-complex and remote thinking that has lost touch with
everyday reality.
The idea of metaphysics invites comparison with common sense.
Metaphysics evokes a notion of thinking and meditating that is
out of touch with the ordinary world and irrelevant to the active
concerns of human life. Metaphysics is often seen as too close to
religion and, in some instances, even identical to it. Many major
metaphysicians such as Aquinas, Leibniz and Spinoza have
presented systems that are coextensive with theology.
Metaphysics for these philosophers is a depiction of divine truth
and reality. They have encouraged a view of metaphysics that is
immense in its ambitions. At the same time as projecting a view of
metaphysics that is coextensive with religion, they can sometimes
be read as acquiescing in the aspiration of religious thinkers, in
particular those belonging to the medieval tradition, to
subordinate all philosophical reflection to religious conviction. This is an
undesirable state of affairs, and in so far as metaphysics is
understood as comprehending religious doctrine that ultimately relies on
dogmatic pronouncements, it should be resisted.
However, we do not have to accept this image of metaphysics. It
is legitimate for metaphysical reflection to include thinking about
religious doctrine, but it need not be defined or limited by it. The
problem is that historically, religion and metaphysics have
overlapped considerably, and some have thought it appropriate that
they should suffer the same fate in the modern period: decline.
The connection of metaphysics with religion can be traced back
at least as far as Aristotle. It is usually suggested that the term
PMK.indd 2 23/06/2011 12:33:23MEtaphysics and politics in th E w aKE o F Kant 3
‘metaphysics’ was coined soon after Aristotle’s death in 322 bc to
describe ‘a number of treatises’ that ‘were placed “immediately
1after the Physics”’. These treatises contain inquiries of a
fundamental kind, including a philosophical lexicon that seeks to define
such terms