Contrary to much Kant interpretation, this article argues that Kant's moral philosophy, including his account of charity, is irrelevant to justifying the state's right to redistribute material resources to secure the rights of dependents (the poor, children, and the impaired). The article also rejects the popular view that Kant either does not or cannot justify anything remotely similar to the liberal welfare state. A closer look at Kant's account of dependency relations in "The Doctrine of Right" reveals an argumentative structure sufficient for a public institutional protection of dependents and evidence that Kant identifies concerns of economic justice as lying at the heart of the state's legitimacy. RÉSUMÉ : Au contraire de ce qu'affirment bon nombre d'interprétations, le présent article soutient que la philosophie morale de Kant et ses explications sur la charité ne justifient pas adéquatement le droit de l'État à redistribuer les biens matériels afin de garantir les droits des citoyens non autonomes (les pauvres, les enfants, les handicapés). Cet article rejette aussi l'idée largement diffusée que Kant ne justifie pas ou est incapable de justifier quoi que ce soit s'approchant même vaguement d'un État providence de type libéral. Une lecture attentive aux explications sur les relations de dépendance que l'on trouve dans «La doctrine du droit» dévoile une structure argumentative à même de défendre une institution publique vouée à la protection des citoyens non autonomes et fournit des preuves à l'effet que Kant voit la question de la justice économique comme un élément central de la légitimité de l'État.

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In this paper, I present and defend Kant's non-voluntarist conception of political obligations. I argue that civil society is not primarily a prudential requirement for justice; it is not merely a necessary evil or a moral response to combat our corrupting nature or our tendency to act viciously, thoughtlessly or in a biased manner. Rather, civil society is constitutive of rightful relations among persons because only in civil society can we interact in ways reconcilable with each person's innate right to freedom. Civil society is the means through which we can rightfully interact even on the ideal assumption that no one ever succumbs to immoral temptation. Kant's account, therefore, provides ideal reasons to support the claim that voluntarism cannot be the liberal ideal of political obligations.

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Kant's conception of women is complex. Although he struggles to bring his considered view of women into focus, a sympathetic reading shows it not to be anti-feminist and to contain important arguments regarding human nature. Kant believes the traditional male-female distinction is unlikely to disappear, but he never proposes the traditional gender ideal as the moral ideal; he rejects the idea that such considerations of philosophical anthropology can set the framework for morality. This is also why his moral works clarifies that all citizens, including women have the right, and should be encouraged to strive towards an active condition.