Prisila na slobodu – izlazak iz prirodnog stanja i stupanje u građansko stanje kao pravna dužnost u Kantovoj pravno-političkoj teoriji
Forced to Be Free – Leaving the State of Nature And Entering the Civil State as a Legal Duty In Kant’s Theory of Law and Politics

Summary/Abstract: This work examines the relationship between Kant’s notion of freedom and‎ the legal duty to leave the state of nature and enter the civil state in his theory‎ of law and politics. As opposed to ethical duties, the fulfilment of legal duties ‎can be forced upon a person. Coercion is important in the context of this paper‎ because, according to Kant, right is always connected with an authorization‎ to use coercion. The right of intelligible possession as an acquired right‎ already existing in the state of nature is the basis of the legal duty to leave the ‎state of nature and enter the civil state. The right of intelligible possession,‎ which refers to the possession of external objects, or possession independent‎ of the empirical conditions, implies the duty of all others to refrain from‎ using the objects we first possess, but also the moral authorization of coercion‎ over those who refuse to do so. However, since in the state of nature there is‎ no public authority which enforces the law through general laws, coercion is‎ arbitrary and depends on particular interpretations of legal situations. The arbitrariness ‎of coercion implies the possibility that the freedom of the individual,‎ which is externally manifested through the right of intelligible possession,‎ will be endangered. For this reason, others can be forced to enter the civil state ‎with me, submitting to the public authority under the same conditions. The ‎public authority makes rights of possession explicit and secures them, and is ‎thus a necessary condition for the fullness of human freedom.‎

• Details
• Contents