Table of Contents
Introduction and methods of interpretation 1
1 Placement of the Doctrine of Right within the Metaphysics of Morals 3
2 Overall structure of the Commentary 5
3 Kant's geometric method 9
4 Kant's comments in his works preceding the Doctrine of Right of 1797 13
5 Achenwall's natural law 15
6 Additional authors on topics discussed in the Doctrine of Right 20
Chapter 1 The idea of the juridical state and the postulate of public law 23
1 The juridical state (Rechtsstaat), the postulate of public law, and the public nature of law and rights 24
2 The three formal criteria of the juridical state 32
3 The substantive criterion of a juridical state 39
Chapter 2 The state of nature and the three leges 44
1 The non-juridical state or the state of nature 45
2 The distinction between the lex iusti and the lex iuridica 52
3 The contrasts among the lex iusti, the lex iuridica, and the lex iustitiae 58
4 Kant's interpretation of the Ulpian formulae 62
5 A return to public justice 67
Appendix to Chapter 2 Iustitia tutatrix, iustitia commutativa, and iustitia distributiva and their differences 71
1 Kant's development of Hobbes' distinction between commutative and distributive justice 71
2 From the two- to the three-part division of public justice 74
Chapter 3 The right to freedom 77
1 The axiom of external freedom 77
2 The negative and positive aspects of internal freedom 84
3 The negative and positive aspects of external freedom 87
4 Closing comments on the positive aspect of external freedom 90
Chapter 4 The permissive law in the Doctrine of Right 94
1 Two concepts of a permissive law 95
2 The permissive law in the Doctrine of Right as a power-conferring norm 100
3 The power the permissive law confers 103
Chapter 5 The external mine and thine 107
1 Kant's concepts of possession 107
2 How is possession as mine possible? 111
3 Rights in rem to specific objects of choice 119
Chapter 6 Intelligible possession of land 122
1 How is original acquisition of a piece of land possible? 123
2 The original right to a place on the earth 126
3 The original community of the land 129
4 The originally united will 132
5 The requirement to divide the land as a synthetic principle of law a priori 135
6 The postulate of public law 138
Chapter 7 The "state in the idea" 143
1 The state in the idea and the juridical state 143
2 The distinction of three state powers 146
3 Practical syllogisms of reason and the role of the executive 149
4 Kant's comparison of the three powers to the propositions in a practical syllogism 157
5 The doctrine of the three state dignities 161
6 The separation of powers 163
Chapter 8 The state in reality 168
1 The original contract 169
2 The forms of state and the "representative system of the people" 175
3 Revolution in the Doctrine of Right 181
4 Reforms in the Doctrine of Right 184
Chapter 9 International and cosmopolitan law 188
1 The permission to coerce others to enter a juridical nation state 189
2 The duty states have to enter a juridical state of nation states 194
3 The nature of a juridical state of nation states 196
4 Cosmopolitan law 205
5 Security for the mine and thine in a state of peace 211
Chapter 10 The "idea of public law" and its limits 215
1 Kant's terminology on the distinction between commutative and distributive justice 215
2 Kant's treatment of the "four cases" in §§36-40 of the Doctrine of Right 219
3 On rights that have no judge 226
Chapter 11 Contract law I. Why must I keep my promise? 232
1 The moral capacity to have a contractual claim 233
2 A contractual claim as a universal right 236
3 Acquiring a contractual claim in reality 239
4 Freedom of contract and its limits 240
5 Why must I keep my promise? 243
Chapter 12 Contract law II. Kant's table of contracts 245
1 The three "pure" forms of contract 247
2 The twelve aspects highlighted in the table 249
3 The completeness of the table of contracts 258
Chapter 13 Criminal punishment 261
1 Achenwall's theory of criminal punishment 262
2 Kant's reasoning behind the criminal law 264
3 "The criminal law is a categorical imperative" 267
4 Punishment in the juridical state 270
5 The amount of punishment: the principle of retribution 272
6 The death penalty and Kant's position on Beccaria 275
Chapter 14 The human being as a person 279
1 The homo phaenomenon 280
2 The homo noumenon 282
3 On the relationship between homo noumenon and homo phaenomenon 285
4 Imputation of human actions 290
Appendix I to Chapter 14 On the logic of "'ought' implies 'can'" 294
1 "'Ought' implies 'can'" in the prospective application of a rule 294
2 "'Ought' implies 'can'" in the retrospective application of a rule 296
Appendix II to Chapter 14 The system of rules of imputation 298
1 "Merit" and "moral culpability" 299
2 The consequences of my action 301
3 The degree of imputability to merit or to demerit 306
Bibliography 309
Index 321
