Abstract for the Kant in Asia International Conference
at Hong Kong Baptist University
20-23 May 2009
Günter Zöller, ¡§Autocracy. The Psycho-Politics of Self-Rule in Plato and Kant¡¨
The paper compares the theory of the self in Plato and Kant by examining the systematic use of political conceptuality for the structuring of ethical discourse in the works of both philosophers. The focus is on the complex set-up of the practical self as the arena for competing orientations and claims. The first half of the paper explores Plato's reliance on the constitution of the ideal city-state for the analogous composition of the soul in the Republic. The second half presents the basic outline of Kant's mature theory of practical subjectivity, chiefly contained in the extensive three sets of introductory sections of his late main work in practical philosophy, The Metaphysics of Morals. The analyses focus on the key concepts drawn from modern political philosophy that inform Kant's understanding and presentation of the relational structure of the practical self, with special attention devoted to the concepts of autonomy and autocracy.