Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:34:18.214Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Neither justice nor charity? Kant on ‘general injustice’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Kate A. Moran
Kate A. Moran*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA
*
Email: kmoran@brandeis.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We often make a distinction between what we owe as a matter of repayment, and what we give or offer out of charity. But how shall we describe our obligations to fellow citizens when we are in a position to be charitable because of a past injustice on the part of the state? This essay examines the moral implications of past injustice by considering Immanuel Kant’s remarks on this phenomenon in his lectures and writings. In particular, it discusses the role of the state and the individual in addressing the problem.

Keywords

Kant, Immanuelgeneral injusticevirtuerestitutionequity
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Philosophy , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , 2017 , pp. 477 - 498
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Journal of Philosophy 2016

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allais, L. 2014. “What Properly Belongs to Me.” Journal of Moral Philosophy 11 (4): 1–18.Google Scholar
Aune, B. 1979. Kant’s Theory of Morals. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Baron, M. 1995. Kantian Ethics Almost Without Apology. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Byrd, B., and Hruschka, J.. 2010. Kant’s Doctrine of Right: A Commentary. New York: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511712050CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guyer, P. 2000. “Life, Liberty, and Property: Rawls and Kant.” In Kant on Freedom, Law, and Happiness, edited by Guyer, Paul, 262–286. New York: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781139173339CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holtman, S. 2004. “Kantian Justice and Poverty Relief.” Kant Studien 95 (1): 86–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, R. 1996. “Kant’s Conception of Merit.” Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 77: 313–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kant, I. 1900ff. Gesammelte Schriften. Eds. Vols 1–22 Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vol. 23 Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Vols 24ff. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen.Google Scholar
Kant, I. 1999a. “Critique of Practical Reason.” In The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant: Practical Philosophy, translated by Gregor, Mary, 137–271. New York: Cambridge UP.Google Scholar
Kant, I. 1999b. “Metaphysics of Morals.” In The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant: Practical Philosophy, translated by Gregor, Mary, 363–603. New York: Cambridge UP.Google Scholar
Kant, I. 2001. Lectures on Ethics. Edited by Schneewind, J. B.. Translated by Heath, Peter. New York: Cambridge UP.Google Scholar
Kiel, P., and Waldman, A. 2015. The Color of Debt: How Debt Collection Suits Squeeze Black Neighborhoods. New York: ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/debt-collection-lawsuits-squeeze-black-neighborhoods.Google Scholar
Kochhar, R., and Fry, R. 2014. Wealth Inequality Has Widened Along Racial, Ethnic Lines Since End of Great Recession. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/12/racial-wealth-gaps-great-recession/.Google Scholar
Murphy, J. G. 1970. Kant: The Philosophy of Right. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. 10.1007/978-1-349-15384-8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinheiro Walla, A. 2015. “When the Strictest Right is the Greatest Wrong: Kant on Fairness.” Estudios Kantianos 3: 39–56.Google Scholar
Pogge, T. 2002. World Poverty and Human Rights. Malden, MA: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. 1999. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Ripstein, A. 2009. Force and Freedom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 10.4159/9780674054516CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosen, A. D. 1993. Kant’s Theory of Justice. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Timmermann, J. 2005. “Good but Not Required?—Assessing the Demands of Kantian Ethics.” Journal of Moral Philosophy 2 (1): 9–27. 10.1177/1740468105052581CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Linden, H. 1988. Kantian Ethics and Socialism. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett.Google Scholar
Varden, H. 2006. “Kant and Dependency Relations: Kant on the State's Right to Redistribute Resources to Protect the Rights of Dependents.” Dialogue 45: 257–284. 10.1017/S0012217300000561CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, H. 1983. Kant’s Political Philosophy. New York: St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar
Wood, A. 2007. Kantian Ethics. New York: Cambridge UP. 10.1017/CBO9780511809651CrossRefGoogle Scholar