ABSTRACT
This chapter considers Immanuel Kant's theory of a criminal legal system and in particular his treatment of the state's right and duty to inflict punishment for certain legal violations and the goal this punishment is to fulfill. Retribution in the execution of the punishment threatened, therefore, limits society in its range of possible reactions toward the individual and rounds out one of the most libertarians of all possible models of social order. The chapter considers the nature of law and its relation to moral precepts generally. It explains the Kant's discussion of legislation, concentrating on distinguishing juridical from ethical obligations. The chapter considers the relationship between freedom and coercion. It shows that the criminal law is necessary to maintain civil society. The chapter distinguishes the subject matter of law from that of ethics in The Metaphysic of Morals. It also shows that law within Kantian moral theory makes requirements only on external behavior.
