A Kantian foundation for welfare rights. (2nd January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pinheiro Walla, Alice
• Is Part Of: Jurisprudence. Volume 11:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: 76
• Page End: 91
• Publication Date: 2020-01-02
• Subjects: Kant -- welfare rights -- general injustice -- systemic injustice -- equity; Jurisprudence -- Periodicals; Law -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; 340.1
• DOI: 10.1080/20403313.2019.1700700
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2040-3321

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In this article, I offer a foundation for the prima facie idea of a right to welfare based on a neglected aspect of Kant's legal theory: his account of equity rights ( aequitas, Billigkeit ) . I argue that these rights are not the same as the 'moral rights' of current literature, and that they arise as a consequence of systemic injustice. The contribution of this article is twofold: firstly, it provides an analysis and application of Kant's underanalysed and little understood discussion of equity; secondly, it offers an alternative to contemporary accounts of welfare rights as moral rights which can better account for their juridical nature as rights.