The “Last” Republican: Kant’s Political Philosophy in the Light of Republicanism

Today, with the growing popularity of republicanism, literature on the topic includes more and more works whose authors attempt to re-read classical political thinkers in terms of republican theory, so as to situate them within the republican canon. Some such efforts have been made with respect to Kant. Traditionally, his political philosophy is thought, more often than not, to be liberal. Republican authors break this consensus, representing him as a republican sympathiser. Some even regard him as a special figure in the history of republican thought. The reason for this is that in Kant’s time, republicanism was gradually leaving the historical stage, giving way to liberalism, to eventually be ousted and practically forgotten until the twentieth century. From this perspective, Kant comes across as one of the last republicans of his time. He is believed to have abandoned some significant republican ideas under the influence of competing politico-philosophical systems, such that he is thought to be a republican only up to a certain point. In this article, I challenge this view, demonstrating that Kant has more in common with republicanism than some researchers believe. To this end, I put his political philosophy in the context of what is known as Roman republicanism, one of the best-studied and currently most popular strands of republican thought. Its main elements are 1) freedom as non-domination, 2) supremacy of law, and 3) self-government. My analysis of Kant’s socio-political views from the perspective of these elements shows that, on the whole, they agree. I conclude that Kant should be viewed as a representative of the Roman branch of republicanism.