Independence and Kant's Positive Conception of Freedom

Scholarly discussion of Kant’s republicanism focuses heavily on his ‘negative’ conception of freedom as independence. Much less attention has been paid to Kant’s ‘positive’ conception of freedom as being subject to one’s own legislation. I argue that Kant’s positive conception of external freedom plays a crucial role in his Doctrine of Right: external freedom in the negative sense (mutual independence) requires and is realized by freedom in the positive sense (joint self-legislation). After discussing the ‘innate right to freedom’, I argue that, on Kant’s account, this fundamental right is only fully realized when external freedom is realized in both senses and in all three spheres of public right. I conclude that a satisfactory account of Kant’s republican theory must complement the focus on independence with an emphasis on citizenship and self-legislation.