This thesis is concerned with the power of ideas in political philosophy and practice. It argues firstly that Kant???s ideas of reason, as he originally defines them as regulative in the First Critique, play an important role in his political philosophy and his dynamic approach to politics. Secondly, because it is fundamentally concerned with political transition and improvement, Kant???s approach to politics is therefore one that has continuing relevance. Evidence for this is provided via an examination of Rawls??? political liberalism and the manner in which the idea of the reasonable fulfils the role of an idea of reason. The thesis begins with an examination of the regulative use of ideas of reason in the Dialectic of the First Critique: the ideas of soul, world and God become guides for practice, insofar as they are not bearers of truth but instead create essential conditions necessary for human life and meaning. Chapter Two then demonstrates how ideas of reason figure in Kant???s political texts. They condition politics by inspiring the practice of their objects, for example, the establishment of a rightful condition, the security of private property, the perpetuation of peace. That they look to the status quo in order to effect politics, demonstrates their concern with social progress. Chapter Three argues that publicity forms the primary political idea of reason as it enables the polity to use ideas of reason. Because publicity provides the test of efficient and rightful politics, we can say that it is through publicity that Kant???s politics is grounded. Chapter Four investigates Rawls??? political liberalism and observes that the primacy of the idea of the reasonable in his theory works according to a system of ideas of reason as proposed by Kant. Chapter Five then makes a final comparison between Kant and Rawls to demonstrate that ideas of reason, in particular the pre-eminent political idea of public reason, is central to both their conceptions of the political condition.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/257586 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Keating, Paula, School of Philosophy, UNSW |
| Publisher | Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Philosophy |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Paula Keating, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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