Kant’s Political Theory

Past interpreters of Kant’s thought seldom viewed his writings on politics as having much importance, especially in comparison with his writings on ethics, which (along with his major works, such as the Critique of Pure Reason) received the lion’s share of attention. But in recent years a new generation of scholars has revived interest in what Kant had to say about politics. From a position of engagement with today’s most pressing questions, this volume of essays offers a comprehensive introduction to Kant’s often misunderstood political thought. Covering the full range of sources of Kant’s political theory—including not only the Doctrine of Right, the Critiques, and the political essays but also Kant’s lectures and minor writings—the volume’s distinguished contributors demonstrate that Kant’s philosophy offers compelling positions that continue to inspire the best thinking on politics today.Aside from the editor, the contributors are Michaele Ferguson, Louis-Philippe Hodgson, Ian Hunter, John Christian Laursen, Mika LaVaque-Manty, Onora O’Neill, Thomas W. Pogge, Arthur Ripstein, and Robert S. Taylor.

“Kant’s Political Theory is an impressive contemporary collection featuring some very distinguished contributors. Especially when brought together in one volume, these essays make important contributions to the literature on Kant's political philosophy.”—Larry D. Krasnoff, College of Charleston, “One of the really remarkable aspects of political philosophy over the last three or four decades—spanning Arendtian, Habermasian, and Rawlsian theory—has been the stunning revival of interest in Kantian political thought. Elisabeth Ellis has put together a collection of essays featuring many of the most prominent and influential contributors to recent scholarship on Kant, thereby helping us appreciate why themes from Kantian political reflection (focusing on liberal justice and autonomy) are back on the radar screen of contemporary theorists and why they are very likely to remain there.”—Ronald Beiner, University of Toronto, “The distinguished Kant scholar Elisabeth Ellis, who has become an expert in Kant’s political philosophy, has edited an impressive collection of essays. Her knowledgeable and comprehensive introduction marks only the beginning of what is a thoroughgoing examination of Kant’s multifaceted political theory, which has often been underestimated by scholars. All of the essays in this volume are, without exception, of outstanding scholarly quality and persuasive in their argumentation as well as in their interpretive skill.”—Prof. Dr. Dr. hc mult. Otfried Höffe, University of Tübingen, “Kant's Political Theory consists of nine articles as well as one of the currently richest bibliographies on Kant's legal-political thought. . . . [T]he anthology provides a very good sense of the current variety of approaches to Kant's theory of justice.”—Helga Varden, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, “Kant’s Political Theory: Interpretations and Applications is a useful and thought-provoking read, no less for the proposed interpretations than for the applications of Kant’s theory. It is a welcome addition to the growing secondary literature on Kant’s legal philosophy.”—Alice Pinheiro Walla, International Dialogue

Elisabeth Ellis is Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University.