Freedom, Justice, and the Social Contract:
A Study in the Moral and Political Philosophies of Rousseau and Kant

In my dissertation I identify and articulate the main difference between the political philosophies of Rousseau and Kant: that they ground justice in two different concepts of freedom.

The point, which I try to bring out in the final part of my dissertation, is that, by force of their different approaches to the relation between freedom and justice, Rousseau and Kant exemplify two different liberal traditions.

The point of this dissertation, then, is to draw attention to these two different traditions of liberalism. Once attention has been drawn, my next step will be to articulate the difference in less historical terms so that we may take a stance on which of these traditions provides the superior grounding and defense of liberal democracy.