Kant on permissive law

Brecher, Martin

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DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009292030.012
URL:	https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/law-and-moral...
URN:	urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-715337
Dokumenttyp:	Buchkapitel
Erscheinungsjahr:	2026
Buchtitel:	Law and morality in Kant
Seitenbereich:	148-168
Herausgeber:	Brecher, Martin ; Hirsch, Philipp-Alexander
Ort der Veröffentlichung:	Cambridge
Verlag:	Cambridge University Press
ISBN:	978-1-009-29199-6 , 978-1-009-29201-6 ,978-1-009-29203-0
Auflage:	.
Sprache der Veröffentlichung:	Englisch
Einrichtung:	Philosophische Fakultät > Philosophie II (Gesang 2009-)
Bereits vorhandene Lizenz:	Creative Commons Namensnennung, nicht kommerziell 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Fachgebiet:	100 Philosophie
Abstract:	The concept of permissive law comes into play in several key passages of Kant’s writings in legal philosophy. Many scholars argue that Kant conceives of permissive laws as suspending moral demands, thus ‘permitting’ in the sense of tolerating morally wrong actions. In opposition to this view, this chapter submits that Kant takes permissive law to be a kind of moral licence. It lays the foundation of this interpretation through a reading of Kant’s discussion of permissive law in Perpetual Peace. As it argues, Kant follows Achenwall and Baumgarten in taking permissive law to be a species of prohibitive law, developing the concept of a law that specifies under which conditions certain actions are allowed. The function of the permissive law in Kant’s legal philosophy is neither to tolerate transgressions of prohibitions nor to regulate as such morally indifferent matters. As it shows, permissive laws are norms that specify under which conditions certain actions are allowed that would otherwise be forbidden. A permissive law licenses certain actions with respect to certain conditions. In the sphere of this licence, the actions are not merely tolerated, but genuinely permitted.