Immanuel Kant, Cosmopolitan Law and Peace

Abstract

Two centuries ago Immanuel Kant published one of his most celebrated political writings, To Perpetual Peace. A Philosophical Project. He introduced cosmopolitan law, which has puzzled various generations of scholars. This concept is examined by way of a comparison of Kant's contemporary international theories. It is argued that it plays a crucial role in Kant's system of International Relations. While on the one hand cosmopolitan law safeguards a state's sovereignty vis-à-vis other states, on the other it is an innovation which allows the international community to monitor the internal affairs of its members. The concept can be seen as a forerunner of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, sharing with it the idea that some rights have a universal value even if they are not actually protected by any secular institution.