Abstract

There are a number of passages in Kant’s political writings in which he appears to deny to citizens any right whatever to resist political authority. Thus, in the essay, “Concerning the Common Saying: This May be True in Theory But Does Not Hold in Practice,” Kant argues that even when such authority is exercised in a way which violates what Kant himself takes to be the fundamental principles of justice, any act of resistance to it is a punishable act