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INTRODUCTION Drucilla Cornell and Sam Fuller . Section (a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, (hereafer referred to as the Constitution). . Hans Kelsen, General Theory of Law and State (Harvard University Press ). . Interim Constitution, section (). Compare section () of the Final Constitution, . . Lourens Ackermann, The Legal Nature of the South African Constitutional Revolution , New Zealand L. Rev. – (). . Section of the Constitution reads: “This Constitution is the supreme law of the Republic; law or conduct inconsistent with it is invalid, and the obligations imposed by it must be fulfilled.” . Ferreira v. Levin NO () SA (CC) at para . . S v. Makwanyane and Another () SA (CC) at para . Note that Justice O’Regan is referring to the Interim Constitution. Under the Interim Constitution the Bill of Rights was located in Chapter . . Section () of the Constitution reads: “When interpreting any legislation, and when developing the common law or customary law, every court, tribunal or forum must promote the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights.” . Carmichele v. Minister of Safety and Security () SA (CC) at para –. . Prinsloo v. Van der Linde () SA (CC). . Prinsloo v. Van der Linde at para . . Ackermann (note supra), . . For a reader unfamiliar with the works of Immanuel Kant see the Cambridge translations of Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and Metaphysics of Morals (note infra). See in particular H. J. Paton’s translation and commentary in his book The Moral Law. Notes . Ackermann (note supra), . See also Stu Woolman, Application in Constitutional Law of South Africa chapter (S. Woolman, T. Roux, and M. Bishop eds., nd Edition, Original Service, Juta Law ). . Ackermann (note supra), . . See Solomon Johannes Terreblanche, A History of Inequality in South Africa, – (University of Natal Press ). . Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals :, (Mary Gregor ed., Cambridge University Press ). . Dawood and Another v. Minister of Home Affairs and Others () BCLR (CC) at para . . On dignity as a right, value, Grundnorm, and ideal, see Stu Woolman, Dignity in Constitutional Law of South Africa chapter (S. Woolman, T. Roux, and M. Bishop eds., nd Edition, Original Service, Juta Law ). . Lourens Ackermann, Dignity: Loadstar for Restitutionary Equality in South Africa, chapter (forthcoming, draft on file with authors). . Ferreira v. Levin (note supra). . Id. at para . . Historically there has been a large debate in Kantian scholarship over the relationship between the realm of internal freedom (the moral law) and the realm of external freedom (Recht, which is, of course, backed by the coercive power of the state). For a summation of the debate see: Allen Wood, Human Dignity, Right and the Realms of Ends in Dignity, Freedom and the Post-apartheid Legal Order, The Critical Jurisprudence of Laurie Ackermann – (A. J. Barnard-Naudé, Drucilla Cornell, and Francois du Bois eds., Juta Press ). Although it is beyond the scope of this introduction the concept of a constitutional categorical imperative demands a stronger link between the two realms that Kant, at times, would seem to defend. . See Isaiah Berlin, Two Concepts of Liberty in Four Essays on Liberty (Oxford University Press ). . Kant, : (note supra), . . One of the ways to understand this space is through the concept of the “imaginary domain.” For a detailed discussion of this concept, as well as the concept of “sexuate” beings, see Drucilla Cornell, The Imaginary Domain (Routledge ). . Bernstein v. Bester () SA (CC). . Id. at para . Indeed Justice Ackermann, in his own philosphical writing, has added something very close to self-representation as integral to dignity. See Lourens “Laurie” Ackermann’s essay in this volume entitled Equality and Nondiscrimination: Some Analytical Thoughts where he defines dignity as including self-representation: “Human dignity (worth) is the capacity for and the right to respect a human being, and arises from all those aspects of the human personality that flow from human intellectual and moral capacity”; which in turn separates humans from the impersonality of nature, enables them to exercise their own judgment, to have self-awareness and a sense of selfworth , to exercise self-determination, to shape themselves and nature, to develop their personalities, and to strive for self-fulfilment in their lives. . Ackermann (note supra), . Notes to pages – [100.24.20.141] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 02:58 GMT) . National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality and Another v. Minister of Justice and Others () SA (CC) at para . . Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, (Final Constitution or FC). EQUALITY AND NONDISCRIMINATION: SOME ANALYTICAL THOUGHTS Lourens W. H. Ackermann Lourens W. H. Ackermann is Emeritus Justice of the Constitutional Court of...