Kant's Patriotism and Republicanism

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H05980
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: History of thought
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Saito Takuya 北海道大学, メディア・コミュニケーション研究院, 准教授 (70759779)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-08-28 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: カント / パトリオティズム / 共和主義 / フランス革命 / 熱狂 / 政治的徳 / 共和制 / 18世紀

Outline of Final Research Achievements

By introducing the “way of thinking,” that is repeatedly employed in Kant’s anthropology and moral philosophy to refer to the rational principle in thinking, Kant provides the perspective of an enlightened patriotism, according to which the “fatherland” is identified with the “republic” in accordance with the concept of right, rather than being understood in line with naive sentimental attachment to one’s native land, which can be criticized as a variety of “paternalistic government” or “despotism.” In his work The Conflict of Faculties (1798), Kant points out that the republican-patriotic way of thinking is spreading among the Prussian people and that political reform toward a republic is necessary to avoid a violent revolution. This is why Kant urges the heads of the state (monarchs) to embody a “patriotic way of thinking.” Kant’s patriotism argument, then, is strategically aimed at establishing a “fatherland” in the process of the reform leading to a republic.

Free Research Field

政治思想史