Rescuing Autonomy from Kant

James Furner, Ph.D. (2008, University of Sussex), is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the Universtiy of Sussex, U.K., and author of Marx on Capitalism: the Interaction-Recognition-Antinomy Thesis (Haymarket, 2019).

Acknowledgements

References and Abbreviations



Introduction



Part I Three Views of Marxism’s Relation to Kant’s Ethics



Introduction to Part I



1 Against the Irrelevance View

 1 The Instrumental Reasons Argument

 2 The False Claims Argument

 3 The Ideology Argument

 4 The Class Interests Argument

 5 Summary



2 Against the Complementarity View, Part 1: Socialist Strategy

 1 The Complementarity View: Stammler, Staudinger, Vorländer

 2 An Objection to the Complementarity View

 3 The Deficient Self-Understanding Claim: A Critique



3 Against the Complementarity View, Part 2: Can Kant’s Formula of the End in Itself Condemn Capitalism?

 1 FEI-Based Arguments against Capitalism

 2 Kant’s Never Merely as a Means Principle

 3 Applying FEI: Some General Considerations

 4 Applying FEI beyond Kant

 5 Evaluation of the Arguments

 6 FEI and General Injustice

 7 Conclusion



4 Against the Incompatibility View

 1 Two Components of Human Freedom

 2 Marx on Human Freedom

 3 The True Realm of Freedom and the Realm of Necessity

 4 The Link to Autonomy

 5 Marx on the Autonomy of a Human Community

 6 Marx’s Commitment to a Critique of Kant’s Ethics

 7 Summary



Part II A Critique of Kant’s Ethics



Introduction to Part II



5 Kant’s Contradiction in Conception Test

 1 The Basic Features of the Causal-Teleological Version of LCI

 2 Further Features of a Causal-Teleological Version of LCI

 3 The Suicide Maxim

 4 The False Promising Maxim

 5 Summary



6 Kant’s Contradiction in the Will Test

 1 Assessment Criteria

 2 Assessing the Existing Interpretations

 3 The Extravagant Imperfect Nature Interpretation

 4 Formulating the Groundwork’s Two Maxims

 5 The Maxim of Neglecting Natural Gifts

 6 The Maxim of Refusing to Help

 7 Summary



7 The Principle of Suitability Interpretation of Kant’s Formula of the Law of Nature

 1 The Contradiction in Conception Test

 2 The Contradiction in the Will Test



8 Kant’s Argument for the Formula of the End in Itself

 1 The Structure of Kant’s Argument for FEI

 2 Steps 1–3

 3 Step 4: the Logical Pluralism Version of Kant’s Regressive Argument

 4 Advantages of the Logical Pluralism Version of Kant’s Regressive Argument

 5 Humanity, Personality and a Belief in the Existence of God



9 Kant’s Arguments for a Belief in the Existence of God

 1 Kant’s Concept of the Highest Good

 2 The Argument from the Highest Good

 3 Wood’s Version of the Argument from the Highest Good

 4 The Objection from Moral Happiness

 5 The Physicoteleological Argument

 6 Conclusion



Part III Founding a Post-Kantian Ethics



Introduction to Part III



10 A Marxist Argument for Autonomy

 1 Relativising Practical Reason

 2 An Argumentative Strategy

 3 The Need for a Duty to the Whole

 4 The General Features of a Foundational Argument

 5 A Lesson from Mill’s ‘Proof’

 6 The Distinctive Features of a Marxist Foundational Argument

 7 A Simple Account of Capitalism’s Basic Structure

 8 Explaining the Premises

 9 The Rights-Antinomy

 10 Resolving the Rights-Antinomy

 11 The System Universalisability Principle of Justice

 12 The Autonomy of a Human Community

 13 Summary

 14 The Justification of Socialist Strategy

 15 Conclusion



Bibliography

Index