This article discusses the relationship between law and ethics in Kantian political philosophy. Unlike the dominant interpretation, I attempt to show that, in order for politics to achieve its goals, good will must be present. Two theses are defended here: first, that there is no gap between the political theses of the 1780s and those of the 1790s regarding an abandonment of the need for good will in the field of politics, i.e., the good will still remains a necessary condition for carrying out a republican constitution. Against an exclusively liberal interpretation, the second thesis argues that Kantian republicanism allows the state to take institutional measures to ensure the moral enlightenment of its citizens.
Kant; good will; politics; history; moral education