Obedience, justice & progress: a Kantian account of revolution

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Alternate title
  • Obedience, justice and progress
Last Modified
  • March 21, 2019
Creator
  • Hoffman, Eva
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Philosophy
Abstract
  • In his political writings, Immanuel Kant explicitly denies the right to revolution. In this thesis, I argue that this denial is inconsistent with Kant's teleological view of history and the duty to work towards political progress. Given Kant's understanding of human nature as selfish and violent, we cannot always rely on a top-down model of progress and must not assume a passive role of civil obedience in all circumstances. Kant's duty to obey should be tempered by the right to resist in political societies where the constitution restricts or destroys mechanisms for future change. Contrary to the views of Christine M. Korsgaard, whose interpretation of the good revolutionary I refute, a modified Kantian account permits a principled justification for revolution.
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  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Hill, Thomas E.
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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  • Open access
Date uploaded
  • October 11, 2010

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