The paper examines a possible connection between Kant''s conception of reason as active and the expression of this conception in his idea of a public use of reason and the limited metaphysical argument he gives for transcendental freedom in the first and second Critiques. I describe the argument as limited because Kant as is well known does not believe that constructive metaphysics is fruitful in this context. Nonetheless there is enough material in his discussion of freedom to suggest the possibility of a systematic link between his conception of the agent as free and of reason as active. The aim of the paper is to explore this link and show how it relates to a distinctively Kantian defence of free speech. The title ''vita activa'' gives an indication of the political manifestation of the conception of rational and free agency outlined in the paper.
