The Noumenal Republic

All human beings are born with equal dignity and equal rights. This statement seems both normatively irrefutable and empirically inaccurate; reality refutes it every day anew – and thus confirms its importance. The truth of this principle can be explained philosophically by returning to Kant’s concept of a »noumenal republic,« in which every person is subject to the general law that he or she co-constructs in the form of a legislator at the same time. Only a critical analysis of society and politics can show the extent to which reality makes a mockery of this. In order for these perspectives not to fall apart into an unrealistic ideal and a diagnosis of hopelessness, we need a critical theory according to Kant as Rainer Forst outlines in this volume.

»Rainer Forst continues the German – and not least the Frankfurt-based – political philosophy of Jürgen Habermas and Axel Honneth, brings them together with American representatives such as John Rawls in critical analysis and in this process draws out the key features of his very own philosophy, which mainly focuses on the basic concepts of ›justice‹, ›tolerance‹ and ›justification‹. Forst reflected on and formulated the realisation that human beings have always been embedded in various ›justification practices‹ in a highly original way.« from the jury rationale of the Leibniz Prize 2012

»His latest books provides a good introduction to Forst’s political thought; it demonstrates the theorist’s interest in the political present and is always clear in its historical and systematic references.« Thomas Meyer, Süddeutsche Zeitung