Kant’s (1724 – 1804) work on rights is found in his social and political philosophy which is an endorsement of the enlightenment and particularly the idea of freedom. The Doctrine of Right, Part one of his two-part Metaphysics of Morals and first published as a stand-alone book in February 1797, contains virtually every directly political topic he treats. His work takes with the standpoint and tradition of both natural law and social contract. According to Kant, every rational being possess an innate right to freedom and also has a duty to realize and preserve this freedom which he can achieve by entering into a civil condition governed by a social contract.
The Doctrine of Right forms the first part of Kant’s metaphysics of morals, the other being the doctrine of virtue. In the doctrine of right Kant attempts to draw the line between political rights and duties and what we call morals. Therefore for something to be enforced as right Kant postulates three conditions or criteria firstly, right has to do with actions that in one way or the other affects and influence other persons whether directly or indirectly this means that, duties to the self are excluded. Secondly, right concerns the decisionsof others which bring about actions and not mere desires and thirdly, right concerns the form of the other’s act not the matter. This means that no particular desires or ends are assumed on the part of the agents. Using trade as an example to further elaborate on this third point Kant explains; trade in regard to right must have the form of being freely agreed by both parties but can have any matter i.e. any kind of trade or purpose the agents want. To further highlight the difference between rights and virtue, Kant showed various distinctions between rights and virtue but in summary, right concerns outer actions corresponding to perfect duty that affects other individuals regardless of their internal motivations or goals. Kant divides rights into innate and acquired right. Innate right is that which is independent of every juridical acts while acquired right is that which is founded upon juridical acts. According to Kant there is only one innate right which is the birthright of freedom, it is one sole original inborn right belonging to every man in virtue of his humanity.
There is indeed an innate equality belonging to every man which consists in his right to be independent of being bound by others to anything more than that to which he may also reciprocally bind them. It is consequently the inborn quality of every man in virtue of which he ought to be his own master by right. Kant (1887:46).
According to Kant, a universal principle of right can only be based on something truly universal such as freedom. The universal principle of right according to Kant prescribes that, “every action is right which in itself or in the maxim on which it proceeds is such that, it can coexist along with the freedom of the will of each and all in action according to universal law”. Kant (1887:40). By freedom in political philosophy, Kant is not referring to the transcendental conception of freedom usually associated with the problem of the freedom of the will Rather, freedom in Kant’s political philosophy is defined as, “independence of the compulsory will of another, and in so far as it can coexist with the freedom of all according to universal law. It is the one sole original inborn right belonging to every man in virtue of his humanity” Kant (1887: 46). His concern in political philosophy is not with laws of nature determining a human being's choice but by other human beings determining a human being's choice, hence the kind of freedom Kant is concerned with in political philosophy is individual freedom of action. Kant calls political freedom, or independence from being constrained by another’s choice, the only innate right.
Kant examined the idea of human rights within politics in such a way that it is only a legitimate government that guarantees our natural right to freedom, and from this freedom we derive other rights. From this basis it can be assumed that Kant looks at the development, creation and implementation of rights as primarily dependent on the state and how the government within the state functions. Furthermore, Kant stresses that a society can only function politically in relation to the state if fundamental rights, laws and entitlements are given and enhanced by the state. As Kant teaches, these laws are founded upon three rational principles:
· The liberty of every member of the society as a man.
· The equality of every member of the society with every other, as a subject.
· The independence of every member of the commonwealth as a citizen.
An interesting aspect of these principles is that they are not given by the state, but are fundamental in the creation and acceptance of a state by the people of the state. In this sense Kant believes that these principles are necessary above all, not only for the founding of laws but for the state to function in the first place.
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