The Symmetry of Natural Right in Kant's Doctrine of Right

FIORELLA TOMASSINI ABAURREA

Natur und Freiheit. Akten des 12. Internationalen Kant Kongresses

Walter de Gruyter

Lugar: Berlín-Nueva York; Año: 2018; p. 2453 - 2460

My aim in this paper is to analyze the way in which the notion of objective right (ius as lex) and the notion of subjective right (ius as facultas) relate to each other in Kant?s Doctrine of Right.I intend to show that there is a symmetrical correspondence between both dimensions of ius and that we can find this symmetry in, at least, two different argumentative moments, to wit:(I) Within the foundational part of the doctrine of right, the ?Introduction to the Doctrine of Right?, between the universal principle of right and the principle of innate freedom, and (II) in the section ?Private Right?, between the juridical duty to enter the state and the moral authorization to coerce others to abandon the state of nature. Finally, I will propose that the symmetry of right allows Kant to confer a normative status on the general will.