Kant and the Law of Peace : A Study in the Philosophy of International Law and International Relations

The first results of my study of Kant's international thought came in the form of a monograph published in Germany in 1994: Kant, Liberalism and the Pursuit of Justice in the International Order. The issues I addressed in this work led me to consider some of the issues I address in the present book. I am therefore pleased to express my thanks to Professor Harald Kleinschmidt, my colleague here at Tsukuba, for inviting me to write the monograph. Finally, I am especially glad to be able to record my great debt of gratitude to Dr Ian Harris of the University of Leicester both for reading and commenting on drafts of substantial parts of the text of the book, and for giving me the benefit of his advice on many general issues in the history of political thought. C harles C ovell ## Tsukuba, Japan January 1977 vii For Kant, then, the problem of war among men, as a problem to be overcome through the submission of men to the form of political organization that was to be maintained in states, was inseparable from the problem of war as it presented itself in the external relations between states. As for the perpetual peace that was the antithesis of war, and the solution to the problem war posed, this Kant thought of as a peace whose realization depended on the possibility of the rule of law being established and made effective in both the domestic and international spheres of politics. This, essentially, was the position Kant argued for in Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose and, later, in Perpetual Peace. It was also the position he argued for in The Metaphysical Elements of Justice. In concluding the analysis of law he provided in the latter work, Kant gave expression to an idea that everywhere informed his international thought. 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The book begins with a general outline of Kant's moral and political philosophy. In the discussion of Perpetual Peace that follows, it is explained how Kant saw law as providing the basis for peace among men and states in the international sphere, and how, in his exposition of the elements of the law of peace, he broke with the secular natural law tradition of Grotius, Hobbes, Wolff and Vattel in the view he took of the foundations of the law that was to make for peace in the international sphere. In the conclusion to the book, Kant and his law of peace are considered in relation to the condition of contemporary international society. Here, it is suggested that while Kant stands in the liberal tradition in international thought and practice, the tradition of liberalism he represents is rather more at odds with current trends in present international society than is sometimes supposed Charles Covell examines the jurisprudential aspects of Kant's international thought, with particular reference to the argument of the treatise Perpetual Peace (1795). The book begins with a general outline of Kant's moral and political philosophy. In the discussion of Perpetual Peace that follows, it is explained how Kant saw law as providing the basis for peace among men and states in the international sphere, and how, in his exposition of the elements of the law of peace, Kant broke with the secular natural law tradition of Grotius, Hobbes, Wolff and Vattel in the view he took of the foundations of the law to make peace in the international sphere. In the conclusion to the book, Kant and his law of peace are considered in relation to the condition of contemporary international society.
Kant and the Law of Peace is a critical examination of the jurisprudential aspects of Kant's international thought, with reference to the argument of his treatise Perpetual Peace (1795). Kant's international thought is situated in the wider context of his moral and political philosophy. Particular attention is given to explaining how Kant saw law as providing the basis for peace among men and states in the international sphere, and how, in his exposition of the elements of the law of peace, he broke with the secular natural law tradition of Grotius, Hobbes, Wolff and Vattel. Covell (political science, U. of Tsukuba, Japan) examines the jurisprudential aspects of the thought of Immanuel Kant (1724- 1804), specifically concerning his thoughts on the necessary foundations for peace among people and states found in the treatise Perpetual Peace (1795). The author argues that while Kant stands in the liberal tradition in international thought and practice, his liberalism is at odds with current trends in international thinking. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or. Palgrave is an imprint of St. Martin's Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd. (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd.).