According to Kant, the state is necessary for a rightful condition. This paper explains why we have a duty to set up a civil condition, on the basis that the state of nature is a state of war in which people lack assurance that their rights will not be violated. After explaining why precisely a state of war is problematic from the point of view of right, the paper then provides an account as to how we manage to leave the state of nature and end up with a state that can solve the assurance problem.
