Abstract
This article presents a defense of Kant’s idea of a league of states. Kant’s proposal that rightful or just international relations can be achieved within the framework of such a league is often criticized for being at odds with his overall theory. In view of the analogy he draws between an interpersonal and an international state of nature, it is often argued that he should have opted for the idea of a state of states. Agreeing with this standard criticism that a league of states cannot establish the institutional framework for international justice, others also suggest an alternative stage model interpretation. According to this interpretation, Kant’s true ideal is in fact a state of states, whereas the league is merely introduced as a temporary and second best solution. In contrast to both the standard criticism and the stage model interpretation, I argue that fundamental normative concerns count in favour of a league rather than a state of states. I also argue that Kant’s defense of such a league is consistent with his position on the institutional preconditions for just interaction in the domestic case because of crucial relevant differences between the state of nature among individuals and the external relations between states.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berlin, Isaiah (2006) Two Concepts of Liberty, In: Henry Hardy (eds), Liberty. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Byrd, Sharon, ‘The State as a “Moral Person”’, in Hoke Robinson (ed.), Proceedings of the Eight International Kant Congress, vol. I. (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1995).
Byrd, Sharon and Hruschka, Joachim, ‘From the State of Nature to the juridical State of States’, Law and Philosophy 27 (2008): 599-641.
Carson, Thomas, “Perpetual Peace: What Kant Should Have Said,” Social Theory and Practice 14 (1988): 173-214.
Cavallar, Georg, Kant and the theory and practice of international right (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1999).
Höffe, Otfried, Kant’s Cosmopolitan Theory of Law and Peace (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
Kant, Immanuel, Perpetual Peace and Other Essays. Trans. Ted Humphrey (Indianapolis, Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, 1983).
Kant, Immanuel, The Metaphysics of Morals. Trans. and ed. Mary Gregor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996; first published 1797).
Kleingeld, Pauline, “Approaching Perpetual Peace: Kant’s Defence of a League of States and his Ideal of a World Federation,” European Journal of Philosophy 12 (2004): 304-325.
Locke, John, The Second Treatise on Civil Government (New York: Prometheus Books, 1986; first published 1690).
Ludwig, Bernd, ‘Whence Public Right? The Role of Theoretical and Practical Reasoning in Kant’s Doctrine of Right’, in Mark Timmons (ed.), Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).
Lutz-Bachmann, Matthias, (1997) Kant’s Idea of Peace and the Philosophical Conception of a World Republic, In: James Bohman and Matthias Lutz-Bachmann (eds), Perpetual Peace: Essays on Kant’s Cosmopolitan Ideal. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Maus, Ingeborg, ‘Liberties and Popular Sovereignty: On Jürgen Habermas’ Reconstruction of the System of Rights’, in René von Schomberg and Kenneth Baynes (eds.), Discourse and Democracy – Essays on Habermas’s Between Facts and Norms (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002).
Maus, Ingeborg, “Kant’s Reasons against a Global State: Popular Sovereignty as a Principle of International Law,” Filozofski Godisnjak 17 (2004): 81-96.
McCarthy, Thomas (2002) On Reconciling Cosmopolitan Unity and National Diversity, In: Pablo De Greiff, Ciaran Cronin (eds) Global Justice and Transnational Politics. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Pettit, Philip, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
Pogge, Thomas, “Kant’s Theory of Justice,” in Kant-Studien 79 (1988): 407-433.
Ripstein, Arthur, (2004) Authority and Coercion. Philosophy and Public Affairs 32:2-35.
Ripstein, Arthur, Force and Freedom: Kant’s Legal and Political Philosophy (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2009).
Tesón, Fernando R., A Philosophy of International Law (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1997).
Varden, Helga, “Diversity and Unity: An Attempt at Drawing a Justifiable Line,” Archiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie 94 (2008a): 1-25.
Varden, Helga, “Kant’s Non-Voluntarist Conception of Political Obligations: Why Justice is Impossible in the State of Nature,” Kantian Review 13 (2008b): 1–45.
Williams, Howard, Kant’s Critique of Hobbes (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2003).
Wood, Allen, ‘Kant’s Project for Perpetual Peace’, in Hoke Robinson (ed.), Proceedings of the Eight International Kant Congress, vol. I (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1995).
Acknowledgments
In addition to an anonymous referee, I would like to thank Kristian Skagen Ekeli, Ståle Finke, Øystein Lundestad, Reidar Maliks, Helga Varden and Audun Øfsti for valuable comments to earlier drafts of this article. Also, thanks to the participants at an internal seminar at the Department of Philosophy, NTNU, for comments on a very early draft, and to the participants at a colloquium at ARENA, UiO, for comments on a next to final draft.
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Mikalsen, K.K. In Defense of Kant’s League of States. Law and Philos 30, 291–317 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10982-011-9094-1
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10982-011-9094-1