Idealism and Realism in Kant's Account of Political Change

Abstract

The current debate on the ideal/non-ideal nature of political theory is usually traced back (although admittedly wrongly) to Rawls's Kantian theory of justice and in particular to his distinction between ideal and non-ideal theory. This panel aims to investigate some of the elements of Kant's legal philosophy which are usually regarded as ideal: his view of moral progress, the role of ideals and their relations to ideas, his notion of a law as a rational requirement or his account of the change of governments.