Kant’s Rejection of Just War

International Order between Democratic Constitutionalism and Revolutionary Violence

verfasst von
Oliver Eberl
Abstract

Following up on Tischer’s, Becker Lorca’s and Teschke’s observations on early modern war discourse, Oliver Eberl in this chapter elaborates Immanuel Kant’s critique of the justification of the use of force in early modernity which revolutionized the thinking on international order. Kant condemned the justification of the use of force as just war since this would perpetuate the state of nature which the states still found themselves in. Kant does not link directly theory and practice but rather formulates his theory on the background of revolutionary change, which in his view opens up the possibility of a completely new approach to international order. However, in unfolding his theory, Kant had to take into consideration its possible practical consequences in the context of an unstable international constellation of power. Furthermore, he had to accommodate the practice of the French republic to identify its opponents as ‘unjust enemies’, thereby contradicting the envisaged role of the revolution as the nucleus of the new era of peace envisioned by Kant.

Organisationseinheit(en)
Institut für Politikwissenschaft
Typ
Beitrag in Buch/Sammelwerk
Seiten
129-143
Anzahl der Seiten
15
Publikationsdatum
2021
Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Sozialwissenschaften (insg.)
Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung
SDG 16 – Frieden, Gerechtigkeit und starke Institutionen
Elektronische Version(en)
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198865308.003.0007 (Zugang: Geschlossen)