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35 Die Bedeutung des weltbürgerlichen Zustandes: Der Siebente Satz der IdeeIn Otfried Höffe (ed.), Immanuel Kant: Schriften Zur Geschichtsphilosophie, Akademie Verlag. pp. 79-89. 2011.
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3015Justice as a Family Value: How a Commitment to Fairness is Compatible with LoveHypatia 29 (2): 320-336. 2014.Many discussions of love and the family treat issues of justice as something alien. On this view, concerns about whether one's family is internally just are in tension with the modes of interaction that are characteristic of loving families. In this essay, we challenge this widespread view. We argue that once justice becomes a shared family concern, its pursuit is compatible with loving familial relations. We examine four arguments for the thesis that a concern with justice is not at home within…Read more
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213A Defense and Development of the Volitional Self-Contradiction InterpretationPhilosophia 51 (2): 505-524. 2023.Kant’s Formula of Universal Law (FUL) is generally believed to require you to act only on the basis of maxims that you can will without contradiction to become universal laws. In “Contradiction and Kant’s Formula of Universal Law” (2017), I have proposed to read the FUL instead as requiring that, for any maxim on which you act, you can will two things simultaneously, without volitional self-contradiction: (1) willing the maxim as your own action principle and (2) willing that it become a univers…Read more
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208Self-Legislation and the Apriority of the Moral LawPhilosophia 51 (2): 609-623. 2023.Marcus Willaschek and I have argued against the widespread assumption that Kant claims the Moral Law—the supreme principle of morality—is (or must be regarded as) ‘self-legislated’. We argue that Kant instead describes the Moral Law as an _a priori_ principle of the will. We also argue that his conception of autonomy concerns not the Moral Law but substantive moral laws such as the law that requires promoting the happiness of others. In the present essay, I respond to the commentary by Alyssa Be…Read more
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160Kant’s Formula of Autonomy: Continuity or Discontinuity?Philosophia 51 (2): 555-569. 2023.In two recent articles I have argued that Kant’s legal and political philosophy can shed new light on his much-contested account of moral autonomy and that important changes in his political theory help to explain why in his later work the Formula of Autonomy disappears. In the present essay, I respond to comments by Sorin Baiasu and Marie Newhouse, who argue that the changes in Kant’s political theory fail to explain the disappearance of the Formula of Autonomy, since in both phases Kant held t…Read more
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349Self-Contradictions of the Will: Reply to Jens TimmermannKant Studien 112 (4): 611-622. 2021.In this article, I reply to Jens Timmermann’s critical discussion of my essay “Contradiction and Kant’s Formula of Universal Law”. I first consider Timmermann’s reasons for rejecting my interpretation of the Formula of Universal Law. I argue that the self-contradiction relevant to determining a maxim’s moral status should not be sought in the imagined world in which the maxim is a universal law. I then discuss Timmermann’s suggestion that something like a volitional self-contradiction is found w…Read more
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447Me, My Will, and I: Kant's Republican Conception of Freedom of the Will and Freedom of the AgentStudi Kantiani 33 103-123. 2020.Kant’s theory of freedom, in particular his claim that natural determinism is compatible with absolute freedom, is widely regarded as puzzling and incoherent. In this paper I argue that what Kant means by ‘freedom’ has been widely misunderstood. Kant uses the definition of freedom found in the republican tradition of political theory, according to which freedom is opposed to dependence, slavery, and related notions – not to determinism or to coercion. Discussing Kant’s accounts of freedom of the…Read more
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10416A Kantian Solution to the Trolley ProblemOxford Studies in Normative Ethics 10 204-228. 2020.This chapter proposes a solution to the Trolley Problem in terms of the Kantian prohibition on using a person ‘merely as a means.’ A solution of this type seems impossible due to the difficulties it is widely thought to encounter in the scenario known as the Loop case. The chapter offers a conception of ‘using merely as a means’ that explains the morally relevant difference between the classic Bystander and Footbridge cases. It then shows, contrary to the standard view, that a bystander who dive…Read more
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581How to Use Someone ‘Merely as a Means’Kantian Review 25 (3): 389-414. 2020.The prohibition on using others ‘merely as means’ is one of the best-known and most influential elements of Immanuel Kant’s moral theory. But it is widely regarded as impossible to specify with precision the conditions under which this prohibition is violated. On the basis of a re-examination of Kant’s texts, the article develops a novel account of the conditions for using someone ‘merely as a means’. It is argued that this account has not only strong textual support but also significant philoso…Read more
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51Natural Law: A Translation of the Textbook for Kant’s Lectures on Legal and Political Philosophy (edited book)Bloomsbury. 2020.Now available Open Access! See the Bloomsburycollections URL below. Correct bibliographical information is as follows: Gottfried Achenwall, _Natural Law: A Translation of the Textbook for Kant's Lectures on Legal and Political Philosophy_, edited by Pauline Kleingeld, translated by Corinna Vermeulen, with an Introduction by Paul Guyer. London: Bloomsbury, 2020. As the first translation into any modern language of Achenwall’s Ius naturae, from the 1763 edition used by Immanuel Kant, this is an es…Read more
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45Prolegomena to Natural Law (edited book)University of Groningen Press. 2020.Gottfried Achenwall, _Prolegomena to Natural Law_, ed. Pauline Kleingeld, trans. Corinna Vermeulen. Groningen: University of Groningen Press, 2020. Open Access, available via the 'direct download' link below. This is the first English translation of _Prolegomena iuris naturalis_ by Gottfried Achenwall (1719–1772). In this book, Achenwall presents the philosophical foundation for his comprehensive theory of natural law. The book is of interest not only because it provides the basis for a caref…Read more
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20322On Dealing with Kant's Sexism and RacismSGIR Review 2 (2): 3-22. 2019.Kant is famous for his universalist moral theory, which emphasizes human dignity, equality, and autonomy. Yet he also defended sexist and (until late in his life) racist views. In this essay, I address the question of how current readers of Kant should deal with Kant’s sexism and racism. I first provide a brief description of Kant’s views on sexual and racial hierarchies, and of the way they intersect. I then turn to the question of whether we should set aside Kant’s sexism and racism or ‘transl…Read more
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Toward Perpetual Peace and Other Writings on Politics, Peace, and History (edited book)Yale University Press. 2006.Immanuel Kant’s views on politics, peace, and history have lost none of their relevance since their publication more than two centuries ago. This volume contains a comprehensive collection of Kant’s writings on international relations theory and political philosophy, superbly translated and accompanied by stimulating essays. Pauline Kleingeld provides a lucid introduction to the main themes of the volume, and three essays by distinguished contributors follow: Jeremy Waldron on Kant’s theory of t…Read more
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819Autonomy Without Paradox: Kant, Self-Legislation and the Moral LawPhilosophers' Imprint 19 (6): 1-18. 2019.Within Kantian ethics and Kant scholarship, it is widely assumed that autonomy consists in the self-legislation of the principle of morality. In this paper, we challenge this view on both textual and philosophical grounds. We argue that Kant never unequivocally claims that the Moral Law is self-legislated and that he is not philosophically committed to this claim by his overall conception of morality. Instead, the idea of autonomy concerns only substantive moral laws, such as the law that one ou…Read more
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398Moral Autonomy as Political Analogy: Self-Legislation in Kant's 'Groundwork' and the 'Feyerabend Lectures on Natural Law'In Stefano Bacin & Oliver Sensen (eds.), The Emergence of Autonomy in Kant's Moral Philosophy, Cambridge University Press. pp. 158-175. 2019.'Autonomy' is originally a political notion. In this chapter, I argue that the political theory Kant defended while he was writing the _Groundwork_ sheds light on the difficulties that are commonly associated with his account of moral autonomy. I argue that Kant's account of the two-tiered structure of political legislation, in his _Feyerabend Lectures on Natural Law_, parallels his distinction between two levels of moral legislation, and that this helps to explain why Kant could regard the noti…Read more
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785A Contradiction of the Right Kind: Convenience Killing and Kant’s Formula of Universal LawPhilosophical Quarterly 69 (274): 64-81. 2019.One of the most important difficulties facing Kant’s Formula of Universal Law (FUL) is its apparent inability to show that it is always impermissible to kill others for the sake of convenience. This difficulty has led current Kantian ethicists to de-emphasize the FUL or at least complement it with other Kantian principles when dealing with murder. The difficulty stems from the fact that the maxim of convenience killing fails to generate a ‘contradiction in conception’, producing only a ‘contradi…Read more
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829Virtue, Vice, and SituationismIn Nancy E. Snow (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Virtue, Oxford University Press. pp. 524-545. 2018.On the basis of psychological research, a group of philosophers known as 'situationists' argue that the evidence belies the existence of broad and stable (or 'global') character traits. They argue that this condemns as psychologically unrealistic those traditions in moral theory in which global virtues are upheld as ideals. After a survey of the debate to date, this article argues that the thesis of situationism is ill-supported by the available evidence. Situationists overlook the explanatory p…Read more
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1099The Principle of Autonomy in Kant's Moral Theory: Its Rise and FallIn Eric Watkins (ed.), Kant on Persons and Agency, Cambridge University Press. pp. 61-79. 2017.In this essay, “The Principle of Autonomy in Kant’s Moral Theory: Its Rise and Fall,” Pauline Kleingeld notes that Kant’s Principle of Autonomy, which played a central role in both the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason, disappeared by the time of the Metaphysics of Morals. She argues that its disappearance is due to significant changes in Kant’s political philosophy. The Principle of Autonomy states that one ought to act as if one were giving universal…Read more
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2053Romantic Cosmopolitanism: Novalis’s “Christianity or Europe”Journal of the History of Philosophy 46 (2). 2008.German Romanticism is commonly associated with nationalism rather than cosmopolitanism. Against this standard picture, I argue that the early German romantic author, Novalis (Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg, 1772–1801) holds a decidedly cosmopolitan view. Novalis’s essay “Christianity or Europe” has been the subject of much dispute and puzzlement ever since he presented it to the Jena romantic circle in the fall of 1799. On the basis of an account of the philosophical background of Novali…Read more
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177Kant’s Theory of PeaceIn Paul Guyer (ed.), Cambridge Companion to Kant and Modern Philosophy, Cambridge University Press. 2006.
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74Kant's Moral and Political CosmopolitanismPhilosophy Compass 11 (1): 14-23. 2016.In this essay, I first outline the contexts in which the idea of cosmopolitanism appears in Kant's moral and political philosophy. I then survey the three main debates regarding his political cosmopolitanism, namely, on the nature of the international federation he advocated, his theory of cosmopolitan right, and his views on colonialism and ‘race’, and I consider the relation between patriotism and cosmopolitanism in Kant's work. I subsequently discuss Kant's moral cosmopolitanism. Kant is wide…Read more
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127Immanuel Kant, ‘Toward Perpetual Peace’ and Other Writings on Politics, Peace, and History (edited book)Yale University Press. 2006.Immanuel Kant’s views on politics, peace, and history have lost none of their relevance since their publication more than two centuries ago. This volume contains a comprehensive collection of Kant’s writings on international relations theory and political philosophy, superbly translated and accompanied by stimulating essays. Pauline Kleingeld provides a lucid introduction to the main themes of the volume, and three essays by distinguished contributors follow: Jeremy Waldron on Kant’s theory of t…Read more
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2019Approaching Perpetual Peace: Kant’s Defence of a League of States and his Ideal of a World FederationEuropean Journal of Philosophy 12 (3): 304-325. 2004.There exists a standard view of Kant’s position on global order and this view informs much of current Kantian political theory. This standard view is that Kant advocates a voluntary league of states and rejects the ideal of a federative state of states as dangerous, unrealistic, and conceptually incoherent. This standard interpretation is usually thought to fall victim to three equally standard objections. In this essay, I argue that the standard interpretation is mistaken and that the three sta…Read more
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870The Problematic Status of Gender-Neutral Language in the History of Philosophy: The Case of KantPhilosophical Forum 25 134-150. 1993.The increasingly common use of inclusive language (e.g., "he or she") in representing past philosophers' views is often inappropriate. Using Immanuel Kant's work as an example, I compare his use of terms such as "human race" and "human being" with his views on women to show that his use of generic terms does not prove that he includes women. I then discuss three different approaches to this issue, found in recent Kant-literature, and show why each of them is insufficient. I conclude that the ten…Read more
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19Patriotismus bei KantIn Ralph Schumacher, Rolf-Peter Horstmann & Volker Gerhardt (eds.), Kant Und Die Berliner Aufklärung: Akten des Ix. Internationalen Kant-Kongresses. Bd. I: Hauptvorträge. Bd. Ii: Sektionen I-V. Bd. Iii: Sektionen Vi-X: Bd. Iv: Sektionen Xi-Xiv. Bd. V: Sektionen Xv-Xviii, De Gruyter. pp. 171-179. 2001.
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706Kantian PatriotismPhilosophy and Public Affairs 29 (4): 313-341. 2000.In this essay, I examine the compatibility of Kantian cosmopolitanism and patriotism. In response to recent literature, I first argue that in order to discuss this issue fruitfully, one should distinguish between three different forms of patriotism and be careful to make clear when patriotism is obligatory, permissible, or prohibited. I then show that Kantians can defend the view that civic patriotism is a duty, but that attempts to also establish nationalist patriotism and trait-based patriot…Read more
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432Kant's Cosmopolitan Law: World Citizenship for a Global OrderKantian Review 2 72-90. 1998.Kant's unduly neglected concept of cosmopolitan law suggests a third sphere of public law -- in addition to constitutional law and international law -- in which both states and individuals have rights, and where individuals have these rights as ‛citizens of the earth' rather than as citizens of particular states. I critically examine Kant's view of cosmopolitan law, discussing its addressees, content, justification, and institutionalization. I argue that Kant's conception of ‛world citizenship'…Read more
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135Defending the Plurality of States: Cloots, Kant, and RawlsSocial Theory and Practice 32 (4): 559-578. 2006.
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595Debunking Confabulation: Emotions and the Significance of Empirical Psychology for Kantian EthicsIn Alix Cohen (ed.), Kant on Emotion and Value, Palgrave. pp. 145-165. 2014.It is frequently argued that research findings in empirical moral psychology spell trouble for Kantian ethics. Sometimes the charge is merely that Kantianism is mistaken about the role of emotions in human action, but it has also been argued that empirical moral psychology ‘debunks’ Kantian ethics as the product of precisely the emotion-driven processes it fails to acknowledge. In this essay I argue for a negative and a positive thesis. The negative thesis is that the ‘debunking’ argument agains…Read more