Abstract

In the last years, we witnessed war-like conflicts, which put the question of legitimate international coercive powers high on the agenda of lawyers and politicians likewise - where it has not really disappeared ever since the publishing of I. Kant’s Metaphysik der Sitten more than 200 years ago. In this essay it will be shown, that the concept of public international law, as it was consistently developed by Kant, has lost nothing of its relevance. For this purpose, the author will reflect first on Kant’s League of Nations, secondly on his reference to the “foedus Amphictyonum“ as the ancient Greek cultural federation, and thus prove the conclusiveness of Kant’s rejection of any international coercive law.