On Human Rights in the Context of Economic Thought: An Alternative Approach Through the Idea of Public Use of Reason

Abstract

The dissertation attempts to account for an alternative connection between human rights and economics. It suggests that this connection involves a comprehensive analysis of the idea of public use of reason. The fundamental concepts of political economy, such as civil society and state, are then re-visited within a conceptual framework which is originally based on Kant’s notion of becoming mature, but at the same time, surpassing it in the extent of the pluralistic society.