Abstract

This paper aims to analyze Schlegel’s critique of Kant’s political philosophy regarding two issues: the republican ideal and the justification of revolution. In the Versuch, Schlegel connects republic and democracy, and opposes Kant’s thesis according to which revolution is not morally allowed. The insurrection of the people is vindicated as a form of political action that aims at the institution of a republican regime. I argue that Schlegel’s view on revolution rests on two central claims: first, on a Rousseaunean account of the people as a constituent power, and second, on the rejection of the Kantian doctrine about the unconditional necessity of the state.