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Rescuing Autonomy from Kant. A Marxist Critique of Kant’s Ethics

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Published Jan 2023

James Furner

Author: James Furner
In Rescuing Autonomy from Kant, James Furner argues that Marxism’s relation to Kant’s ethics is not one of irrelevance, complementarity or incompatibility, but critique. Although Kant’s formulas of the categorical imperative presuppose a belief in God that Kant cannot motivate, the value of autonomy can instead be grounded by appeal to an antinomy in capitalism’s basic structure, and this commits us to socialism.

Biographical Note

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).

Readership

Anyone interested in Kant, post-Kantian philosophy, Marx and Marxism, or the ethics of socialism.

Table of Contents

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