ABSTRACT
In this chapter, by an ideal theory, the author means one that assumes, in enunciating principles of justice, that human beings and the world are both simpler and better than we know them to be. Applying Immanuel Kant’s theory of justice to the problem of exclusionary zoning, the author explores how ideal theory might fulfill its promise. The author develops two intermediate Kantian principles that will augment the theory in a way that can guide the thinking about exclusionary zoning. The principle of independence identifies exclusionary zoning ordinances as likely instances of injustice because they perpetuate and compound, rather than remedying, significant impingements on independence brought on by privations of fundamental interests. Evaluating the dilemma as a case of preexisting injustice will help bring out the reason that exclusionary zoning ordinances themselves, or some components of them.
