Kant’s thought occupies a peculiar position in contemporary political philosophy. It has exerted a considerable influence on the field, most notably through the works of John Rawls. Yet the briefest glance at the Doctrine of Right will confirm that it is not Kant’s political ideas that have proved influential but rather ideas contained in his moral writings, from which Kant’s followers have devised political theories often at considerable variance with his own. No doubt, the obscure and sometimes fragmentary character of Kant’s political writings is partly responsible for this state of affairs, but there is more to the story. Kant’s political philosophy rests on a highly contentious claim: that rational agents have a right to freedom, by which he means that their freedom can justifiably be restricted only for the sake of freedom itself. Yet not only does Kant fail to supply any explicit argument in support of that claim; he uses it to establish theses that range from the surprising (on the right to revolution, say) to the downright chilling (on capital punishment and the castration of rapists, among many others). Even his most devoted fol-