Kant on Citizenship and Poverty

Kant on Citizenship and Poverty, Volume 1, offers a profound exploration of political philosophy through a Kantian lens. Nicholas Vrousalis examines how Immanuel Kant defines citizenship through the interconnected concepts of freedom, equality, and civil self-sufficiency. The text presents a unifying interpretation of these elements, arguing that Kant views the modern state as a system of cooperative production. In this framework, citizens exercise independent use of their interdependent rightful powers within a just society.

This philosophy book analyzes the relationship between citizenship and poverty, framing the ideal state as a republic of economically independent commodity producers. Vrousalis demonstrates how Kantian thought anticipates significant developments in political theory, including the works of Hegel, Marx, and Rawls. By investigating reciprocal entitlements and the division of labor, Kant on Citizenship and Poverty provides a rigorous academic study of how economic independence functions within a structured political community.