Philosophy being second order enquiry should reflect upon the concept oflaw and justice, in the context of jurisprudence, upheld by Immanuel Kant(1724-1804). Three Critiques of Kant articulate three important ideals and targets available in human experience. They are: Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. How these three Critiques of Kant throw light upon to the concepts oflaw and justice? How does our mind work to gain knowledge concerning the human conditions? Kantian philosophy is rigorous in nature. It believes inuniversal laws having no exceptions whatsoever. The concept of Justice isa priori but the law is a posteriori. Law depends on space, time andcircumstances of the people. Law cannot operate in vacuum. It has to confront social reality. We will try to explicate the notion of

right’ and ‘entitlement’. Justice, on the other hand has twodimensions, viz. distributive and corrective. The former is concerned with who ought to get what goods and services. The latter is concerned withpunishment for offence committed.Kantian contribution can be highlighted on both counts, viz analytic jurisprudence and ethical jurisprudence. According to Kant, law mustreflect certain goals or ends that are natural for human kind. Heemphasizes the universal component of law and gives more importance to the form rather than content. For example, law is nothing but simply thecommand of the sovereign, backed by appropriate sanctions. In this way,Kant does the same thing in jurisprudence as he did in epistemology, wherein he reconciled the claims of rationalism and empiricism. Injurisprudence, he reconciled the claims of naturalism and positivism.Similarly. Kantian theory of punishment revolves around the dynamic relationship between intention and responsibility.Finally, philosophy must engage itself with the living problems of the society. Kantian perspective can give a new dimension to the contemporarydebates on ‘capital punishment’ and ‘euthanasia’.

Dr.M.P.Singh, is a Member Secretary, of the Indian Council ofPhilosophical Research, Delhi, the apex body in Philosophy in India. Hisresearch interests are: Philosophical concepts and issues in IndianConstitution, Nation building through 'Language Training' and Interfaith dialogue. He has published a book on Philosophy of Kant in 1990.