Kant’s Rejection of Just War

International Order between Democratic Constitutionalism and Revolutionary Violence

authored by

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.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Political Science

Type

Contribution to book/anthology

Pages

129-143

No. of pages

15

Publication date

2021

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Sciences(all)

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198865308.003.0007 (Access: Closed)