Abstract

With the term ‘Selbständigkeit’ Kant completes his notion of freedom and equality. The formula ‘Freiheit, Gleichheit, Selbständigkeit’ should replace the term ‘brotherhood’ brought up by the French Revolution. The article examines what would be the systematically adequate interprettion of ‘Selbständigkeit’ within Kant`s philosophy of law. The objective of this investigation is to find out whether and how the concept of civil and civic ‘Selbständigkeit’ includes certain obligations of society as a whole to enable each and every individual to reach a state of ‘Selbständigkeit’. If so, it could be shown that some aspects of nowadays’ notion of ‘social justice’, far from being contrary to an autocritical concept of freedom, derive their legitimation directly from the principles of liberal thinking themselves. ‘Selbständigkeit’ could thence define the basis and limits of a state’s concern in respect to the personal wellbeing of his citizens and thus offer a critical and normative concept for todays social politics