Kant and the Law of Peace: A Study in the Philosophy of International Law and International Relations

Charles Covell examines the jurisprudential aspects of Kant's international thought, with particular reference to the argument of the treatise "Perpetual Peace" (1795). The book begins with a general outline of Kant's moral and political philosophy. In the discussion of "Perpetual Peace" that follows, it is explained how Kant saw law as providing the basis for peace among men and states in the international sphere, and how, in his exposition of the elements of the law of peace, Kant broke with the secular natural law tradition of Grotius, Hobbes, Wolff and Vattel in the view he took of the foundations of the law to make peace in the international sphere. In the conclusion to the book, Kant and his law of peace are considered in relation to the condition of contemporary international society.