Kant's Perpetual Peace Study Guide

Preface and Philosophical Context of Kant’s Perpetual Peace

  • Translation and Publication Details:

    • Title: Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay by Immanuel Kant (1795).
    • Translator: Miss Mary Campbell Smith, M. A. (1903).
    • Preface by: Professor R. Latta (University of Glasgow, May 1903).
    • Purpose: To provide a definitive English translation meeting the needs of students of Political Science and general readers interested in International Law from the Middle Ages to the Hague Conference.

  • Professor Latta’s Philosophical Framework:

    • Theoretical vs. Practical Reason: In Kantian philosophy, pure reason has two aspects:
      • Theoretical Reason: Principles of reason (e.g., cause and effect) are valid only within the realm of sense-experience (phenomena).
      • Practical Reason: Yields imperatives to the will. It establishes the validity of ideas like God and the soul, which transcend sense-experience, through "dogmatic" imperatives.
    • The Categorical Imperative in Politics: Kant’s fundamental moral law is referenced in Appendix I: "Act so that thou canst will that thy maxim should be a universal law, be the end of thy action what it will."
    • Nature vs. Providence: Nature is viewed as a mechanical system. Providence is the teleological view of nature as having a predetermined design to produce harmony from human discord.
    • Duty vs. Expediency:
      • The Moral Politician seeks to bring statesmanship into line with morality.
      • The Political Moralist fashions a system of ethics to serve the interests of the statesman.
    • Status of Perpetual Peace: It is not merely a Utopian dream but a moral principle that ought to be realized, and therefore can be realized.

Historical Evolution of the Idea of War and Peace

  • The State of Nature:

    • Rousseau’s View: Characterized the original state of man as peaceful and isolated, lacking industry, speech, or desire to harm. He termed the social contract a "tacitly implied" agreement present in every actual society.
    • Hobbes’s View: Contradicted Rousseau, framing the state of nature as a bellum omnium contra omnes (a war of all against all).
    • The Early Civil State: The foundation of the state was the first historical peace institution. It changed the character of warfare from irregular raids to systematic, deliberate war between communities.

  • Classical Conceptions (Greece and Rome):

    • Greece: Viewed barbarians as natural enemies. Treaties were merely armistices to renew strength.
    • Plato and Aristotle: Held that non-Grecian states had no rights. Aristotle argued that the end of war is peace, but supported despotic rule over those "deserving to be slaves."
    • Rome: Established a world-embracing empire that blotted out boundaries. Their laws of war were religious (jus feciale).

  • Monotheism and War:

    • Judaism: Introduced a religion of intolerance due to the concept of one God. The Old Testament is described as resounding with the "clash of arms."
    • Christianity: Occupies an intermediate position. It contains no warlike principles and promotes a universal brotherhood. However, historical circumstances (the Crusades, the rise of Islam) led to the concept of "holy wars."
    • Early Church Fathers: Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Origen originally opposed military service. Origen argued that Christians fight for the king not by bearing arms, but as an "army of piety" through prayer.

The Development of International Law

  • Foundational Figures:

    • Albericus Gentilis: Defined war as the just or unjust conflict between states (late 16th century).
    • Hugo Grotius: Published De Jure Belli et Pacis (1625) during the Thirty Years’ War.
      • He established the Law of Nature as the code for states.
      • Asserted that independent communities are all equal in the view of the Law of Nations.
      • Accepted war as a legal procedure but sought to mitigate its horrors.
    • Samuel Puffendorf: Drew the necessary distinction between law and ethics.
    • Emerich Vattel: Published Le Droit des Gens (1758).
      • Emphasized humanizing war methods.
      • Introduced the "right of way" based on the primitive state of communion of the earth.
      • Argued that nations have no right to use force except when conciliatory measures are useless.

  • Universal Imperial Ideals:

    • Dante Alighieri: In De Monarchia, he argued for a world-republic under one sovereign to ensure quiet. Kant later rejects this "universal monarchy" as a "soulless despotism" that sinks into anarchy.

Early Peace Projects

  • The Grand Dessein of Henry IV (1634): Proposed dividing Europe among fifteen powers to establish a balance of power, governed by a General Council.
  • William Penn (1693): Suggested an international tribunal of arbitration.
  • The Abbé St. Pierre (1713): Published Projet de Paix Perpétuelle.
    • Proposed a permanent union of nineteen Christian sovereigns.
    • Disputes were to be settled by arbitration in a permanent Senate.
    • Voltaire and Leibniz critiqued this; Leibniz famously compared it to a churchyard inscription: "Pax Perpetua," for only the dead fight no more.

Kant’s Philosophical Foundations for Peace

  • The End of Humanity: The evolution of man from animalism to a high state of culture and civilization through reason and freedom of will.
  • Unsocial Sociableness: Nature's means of development. Man's inclination to enter society coupled with a resistance that threatens to break it up. This resistance awakens latent powers, pushing the species toward progress.
  • The Role of History: History is the process through which the capacities of the human species reach full development. This development occurs in the race, not the individual.
  • Constitutional Development: "Out of such crooked material as man is made, nothing can be hammered quite straight." We must make our constitution as good as possible despite human imperfection.
  • The Commercial Spirit: Kant identifies commerce as the force most incompatible with war. As nations become more interdependent economically, they are compelled to avert war through mediation.

Preliminary Articles of Perpetual Peace Between States

  1. Article 1: "No treaty of peace shall be regarded as valid, if made with the secret reservation of material for a future war."
    • Peace implies the end of all hostilities; anything else is a mere truce.
  2. Article 2: "No state having an independent existence—whether it be great or small—shall be acquired by another through inheritance, exchange, purchase or donation."
    • A state is a "moral person," not a property (patrimonium).
  3. Article 3: "Standing armies (miles perpetuus) shall be abolished in course of time."
    • They incite states to outrival one another in troop numbers.
    • Hiring men to kill/be killed treats them as machines, violating the rights of humanity.
  4. Article 4: "No national debts shall be contracted in connection with the external affairs of the state."
    • Credit systems are dangerous "money powers" used to finance war.
  5. Article 5: "No state shall violently interfere with the constitution and administration of another."
    • Interference is a violation of the autonomy of an independent nation.
  6. Article 6: "No state at war with another shall countenance such modes of hostility as would make mutual confidence impossible in a subsequent state of peace."
    • Prohibits assassins (percussores), poisoners (venefici), and instigating treachery. These "infernal arts" lead to a war of extermination (bellum internecinum).

Definitive Articles of Perpetual Peace

  • First Definitive Article: "The civil constitution of each state shall be republican."

    • Republic vs. Democracy:
      • Republicanism: The political principle of severing the executive power from the legislature.
      • Democracy: Categorized by Kant as a form of despotism because "all" decree regarding one individual who dissents, meaning the "whole people" aren't truly all.
    • Separation of Powers: Necessary for a true constitution. Representative government encourages peace because citizens must consent to the costs/devastation of war.

  • Second Definitive Article: "The law of nations shall be founded on a federation of free states."

    • Foedus Pacificum (Covenant of Peace): Unlike a treaty of peace (pactum pacis) which ends one war, this seeks to end all wars forever.
    • Federation vs. World-State: States, unlike individuals in a state of nature, already have a legal constitution. They do not want to be fused into one nation, but a federation protects their freedom.

  • Third Definitive Article: "The rights of men, as citizens of the world, shall be limited to the conditions of universal hospitality."

    • Right of Visitation: The claim of a stranger not to be treated as an enemy upon entering foreign territory.
    • Common Possession of the Earth: Since the earth is a globe, humans must eventually reconcile themselves to existing side by side.
    • Critique of Colonial Injustice: Kant condemns the "inhospitable behavior" of commercial states (e.g., in America, Hindustan, and the Sugar Islands) who look upon discovered lands as "belonging to nobody."

Supplements to Perpetual Peace

  • First Supplement: Concerning the Guarantee of Perpetual Peace:

    • Nature (as fate or providence) forces man toward peace through his own self-seeking propensities.
    • Mechanical Progress: Nature spread men to all corners of the earth via war and then used commerce to unite them through mutual interest.
    • Moral Requirement: Human reason sets peace as a duty, and nature ensures that what man ought to do, he will eventually do through natural mechanisms.

  • Second Supplement: A Secret Article for Perpetual Peace:

    • "The opinions of philosophers, with regard to the conditions of the possibility of a public peace, shall be taken into consideration by states armed for war."
    • States should allow philosophers to speak freely and publicly about peace, as their lack of political power prevents them from being a threat to state agitators.

Arguments Against Perpetual Peace and Kant's Rebuttal

  • Hegel, Schiller, and Moltke:

    • Hegel: Refused to admit that state welfare is found in international peace; saw war as preventing national effeminacy and burying inner dissension.
    • Count Moltke: Argued that peace is a "dream and not a beautiful dream either," asserting that war is part of the "divine order" that develops noble virtues like courage and fidelity.
    • Schiller: Initially sang of war as a force that "lets strength appear" and "elevates to the uncommon."

  • Kant’s Stance on Morals and Politics (Appendix I & II):

    • Compatibility: Objectively, there is no quarrel between morals and politics. Subjectively, however, the self-seeking tendencies of men produce a conflict.
    • Publicity Principle: "All actions relating to the rights of other men are wrong, if the maxims from which they follow are inconsistent with publicity."
    • Illustration (Revolution): Revolution is legally wrong because a maxim of insurrection cannot be made public without defeating its purpose (the state would suppress it instantly).
    • Sophistical Maxims Denounced:
      1. Fac et excusa: Seize the opportunity and justify it later.
      2. Si fecisti, nega: Deny your crimes and blame your subjects.
      3. Divide et impera: Stir dissension among opponents to subject them.

Future Prospects of the Federation of the World

  • The Path Forward: Federation is the only logical conclusion for a peace program. While it will not prevent all wars, it makes them less frequent.
  • Comparison of Civil Peace and International Peace: Just as small towns and states in the 15th century found civil peace through law, the nations of Europe are moving toward a similar federation.
  • Final Call to Action: Perpetual peace is an ideal to be approached. It is a problem that gradually works out its own solution as the periods of advance become shorter over time.