The justification of freedom and rights is one of the greatest ideological undertakings of modern times. German philosophers represented by Kant and Hegel, made special contributions to it. By introducing the dimension of a apriori’thinking, the otherness dimension, and the historical dimension, they not only complete the justification of freedom and rights in theory, but also provide a possible way to solve the new dilemma brought by the previous theories of freedom in practice. Due to the lack of a historical dimension, all conflicts are attributed to cultural conflicts; due to the lack of a transcendental dimension, the space of rights becomes a secular space in which people can live without virtue; and because the horizon of the absolute otherness is closed, human nature slides into the danger of selfdeletion and selfatrophy. These problems indicate that it is time to say farewell to the “thin theory of freedom” and to return to the German philosophy of freedom.

German philosophy; philosophy of freedom; rights; selfknowledge; thin theory of freedom; community