Critical Philosophy And Natural Law

This article is to discuss the character and nature of Kant's legal course. The article, named‘Does‘Metaphysics Theory of Law'belong to the Natural Law Theory or the Positivist School', involves the following four subtitles: I. Relations between the Natural Law and Metaphysics, II. Significance of Critique of Pure Reason to the Classical Natural Law, III. Philosophic grounds of Critique of Practical Reason and Critique of Natural Law; IV. Main content of Critique of Natural Law.The main viewpoint of the author is that‘Metaphysics Theory of Law'belongs to Natural Law Theory based on Critical Philosophy. The biggest difference from formerly Natural Law Theory is that, it takes the consciousness to the cognitive ability and will of the humanity as the prerequisite, that is, the examination of Critique of Pure Reason on the human's cognitive ability and the examination of Critique of Practical Reason on human's will. This thorough examination does not only provide substantial confidence for the theory because all of the theory sources from the flat and clear inference, but also restricts the human's vain hope because the critique of practical reason makes people clearly realize their limits.This article is composed of five chapters: Chapter I reviews the principal domestic and foreign documents on Kant's legal course; Chapter II takes the legal theories of Rousseau and Locke as the representative of Natural Laws in modern times, so as to prove the natural relations between Natural Law and Metaphysics and to point out the defects in methodologies of respective schools; Chapter III introduces the methods and major conclusion of Critique of Pure Reason, with emphasis on the laws and characters of perceptual knowledge, intellectual knowledge , rational knowledge, as well as the influence to Metaphysics and Classical Natural Law; Chapter IV introduces the method and major conclusion of Critique of Practical Reason, with emphasis on the prove process of the ideology of‘freedom', as well as its importance to Kant's Natural Law Theory. Because the concept of‘law'in Kant is derived from the ideology of freedom, i.e. fully derived from rational knowledge itself, not drawing support from and experience, so as to guarantee the objectivity, universality and eternity, so as to prove that the nature of‘Metaphysics Theory of Law'is the Natural Law; Chapter V analyzes the derivation method and specific contents of Critique of Natural Law, researches the definition of right, the principles of private right, principles of public right and the ways to get access to the Natural Law, and compares with the Natural Law Theory of Rousseau and Locke.In conclusion, the author points out that although the Critique Philosophy of Kant denies the theory of knowledge of the Classical Natural Law, its gist is not to abandon the Natural Law. On the contrary, he changed the philosophic ground of the Natural Law from the field of theory of knowledge to the field of theory of practice, answers the query to the Natural Law in Materialism and Idealism, so as to provide a much securer basis for the Natural Law Theory. In this sense, Kant became the rescuer of the Modern Law in modern times.