The Statesman's virtue - A pragmatic dimension in Kant's political thought

The paper points out a dimension of concrete politics in Kant. Therefore it focusses on the relation between the Statesman and the Subject. Neither individual-ethics nor historical optimism can be regarded as a solution for the problem, when is a state a real republic, because they both cannot include the central concept of enlightenment into politics: the self-thinking. As the historical movements in France and Kant's explanation of them direct to the same problem, an answer can be found. Kant affirms the dismissing of the Nobles, because they do not fit within the concept of Human rights. Therefore a republic -if the Subject should be able to regard it as one- has to create political consciousness. Here Kant anticipates a method, which is similar to today's theory of social capital.