Kant’ın Siyaset Felsefesinde Toplum Sözleşmesinin Rolü

Kant’ın orijinal sözleşme ya da toplum sözleşmesi konusundaki görüşlerinin çağdaş siyaset felsefesi literatüründe neredeyse göz ardı edildiği düşünülebilir. Oysa Kant’ın bu konudaki görüşlerinde kendine özgü ve takdir edilebilecek pek çok unsur vardır. Örneğin, orijinal sözleşmenin, tarihsel bir olaydan ziyade aklın bir idesi olması, Kant’ın literatüre katkısı olarak ele alınabilir. Üstelik, Kant’a göre toplum sözleşmesine gösterilen rızanın temelinde, doğa durumunda yalnızca geçici olabilen mülkiyet haklarının bir toplum sözleşmesi altında kurumsallaşarak kesin bir hükme bağlanmasını gerekli kılan bir ahlâkî yükümlülük bulunur. Kant’ın toplum sözleşmesiyle ilgili görüşlerinin Hobbes’un ve Locke’unkilerden ayrılabileceği pek çok yön olsa da, Kant’ın siyaset felsefesinin Hobbes’la başlayıp Locke ve Rousseau tarafından geliştirilen toplum sözleşmesi geleneğinin bir parçası olduğu iddia edilir. Bu iddiaya katılmak hatalı olur; çünkü Kant her zaman ideal bir devletin, ya da hakikî bir cumhuriyetin toplum sözleşmesi idesiyle uyumlu olması gerektiğine işaret etmiştir.

The Role of Social Contract in Kant’s Political Philosophy

Kant’s views on original contract or social contract seems to be underestimated in the current literature on political philosophy. But, there is a lot to appreciate in his thoughts on this issue. For instance, the original contract being an idea of reason rather than of a historical event, could be considered as Kant’s contribution. Moreover, for Kant, consent to the social contract depends on a moral obligation to institutionalize and make peremptory in a social contract property rights that in the state of nature have only a provisional character. There are aspects which help us purify Kant’s views on social contract from the ideas of Hobbes and Locke; however, his political philosophy is most often claimed to be a part of the social contract tradition which began with Hobbes, and was improved by Locke and Rousseau. We would not be mistaken if we disagree with this claim, since Kant has always noted that an ideal state, or a true republic, must conform to the Idea of the social contract.

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