Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21860/j.15.2.11
Kant and the Right to Healthcare – A Welfare State by Libertarian Means
Lovro Grgić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5361-2754
; *nema / samostalni istraživač
Abstract
In contemporary discussions of the right to healthcare, it is commonly accepted that Kant’s vision of the state is opposed to the one envisioned by libertarians, i.e., that Kant’s state encompasses the duty to secure a certain standard of healthcare for all its citizens. This article explores the origins and implications of such a normative commitment in the context of Kant’s legal and political philosophy. It aims to show that his idea is a part of the liberal tradition and that healthcare should thus enable the protection of individual freedom. The concept of the modern welfare state can, at least to a certain extent, be grounded in Kant’s ideas as well, although they are definitely not compatible with socialist visions of society and the state. Avoiding both the libertarian and the socialist extremes, Kant proposes that something resembling vouchers, an instrument that libertarians often advocate, can be used to secure everyone’s right to healthcare. Pointing to positive financial effects, Kant also claims that its use expands the limits of individual freedom. That does not mean that Kant accepts the libertarian notion of maximizing individual liberty by minimizing state intervention; it simply entails the idea that what secures individual freedom, conceived as equality under universal laws, is precisely the facilitating of the realization of basic rights.
Keywords
Kant; state; right to healthcare; welfare state; libertarianism; vouchers
Hrčak ID:
329680
URI
Publication date:
31.3.2025.
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