Minimalist and republican justifications of the duty of poverty relief in the Kantian State

Abstract

This paper aims to assess the different arguments that have been put forward to explain the duty of poverty relief in Kant´s political philosophy. Firstly we will develop, articulate and criticize several attempts to justify the said duty from minimal conceptions of the State, instrumental considerations or the value of human dignity. We will then examine the most promising arguments that link the duty of poverty relief with Kant´s republicanism. As all the previous arguments seem to fail their task, we will conclude the paper trying to develop the structure of a stronger argument in favor of the duty of poverty relief based on the concept of “Original Common Possesion”.