L’intellettuale tra impegno politico e riflessione teorica. Una lezione kantiana

Kant, like many classics, is often misunderstood and reduced to a cold, rigid moralism. The text argues instead that Kant values praxis and the two-way link between theory and real political life. The author claims Kant does not ignore consequences but defends the role of moral principles. The saying “right in theory, useless in practice” is rejected as a faulty inference from facts to validity. Kant distinguishes between a principle’s applicability and its actual application in reality. Even if justice is violated, normative theory remains necessary to judge, limit, and transform injustice. So political realism that dismisses ideals reinforces the status quo and carries moral responsibility. Bridging principles and cases requires judgment (Urteilskraft), not automatic rules. Kant thus offers a model of the intellectual: rigorous in theory and committed in civic-political practice.