Kant's Social Contract: A New Transcendental Principle in Political Philosophy

The aim of this paper is to show that Kant's social contract can be deemed to be another version of his universal law of right and a new transcendental principle in political philosophy. Since this new principle involves the idea of transcendental freedom, upon which Kant's concept of obligation is built, this paper shows that the concept of the freedom of compatibilism, which has been inexplicitly accepted in modern political philosophy, cannot be the basis of such an obligation. Since Rawls's intention is to build up a deontological political theory against utilitarianism, he applies many important concepts of Kant's moral philosophy to the theory. However, to tackle the problem of stability, in his new argument on the theory of justice Rawls appeals to the concept of the overlapping consensus in order to support the conception of moral persons as free and equal. Through Rawls's modification of his theory of justice, widely recognized as a milestone in political philosophy, it is possible to see the problem raised by this modification and the importance of Kant's transcendental freedom in modern political philosophy.