Kant and Political Activism

Abstract

Immanuel Kant’s account of justice is no enemy of potent political activism. Claims that seem to condemn any but the most bloodless and measured protest are better read as cautions against actions that forsake justice for violence, fraud, or whim, that spurn rather than elevate moral assessment and critique, that undermine public trust in the rule of law, and that advance individual lust for power or personal gain at the expense of justice. Most fundamentally, Kantian political activism is committed to vigorous social and political justice reforms respectful of the civic agency of persons and duly sensitive to worldly conditions.