ABSTRACT
The establishment of a Civil Constitution in society is one of the most important facts in human history. In the principle on which it is founded this institution differs from all the other forms of social union among mankind. The Civil State regarded merely as a social state that is regulated by laws of right, is founded upon the following rational principles: The Liberty of every Member of the Society as a Man; the Equality of every Member of the Society with every other, as a Subject; and the Self-dependency of every Member of the Commonwealth, as a Citizen. These Principles are not so much Laws given by the State when it is established, as rather fundamental conditions according to which alone the institution of a State is possible, in conformity with the pure rational Principles of external Human Right generally.
