Kant, Intervention and the ‘Failed State’

Abstract

Nowadays Kant's practical philosophy (including his political philosophy) is as highly regarded as his theoretical philosophy. This is an important development since the more constructive side of Kant's philosophy is to be found in his moral and political works. The main task of the Critique of Pure Reason is to clarify its concepts and to get rid of basic errors, and thus only ‘negative’. The moral and political writings, on the other hand, try to expand the scope of reason ‘for practical purposes’ (‘in praktischer Absicht’). Establishing principles of moral and political conduct, their main objective is not negative, but constructive.

Two Faces of Liberalism: Kant, Paine, and the Question of Intervention

“…While Kant was also a friend of international commerce, his reasoning was somewhat distinct from Paine's. A less utopian and more pragmatic Kant posited that trade leads to peace because of the vested interests of 4 Several recent works challenge this reading of Kant's apprehensions with international law (see Tesón 1998; Cavallar and Reinisch 1998;Kleingeld 2004). While applying Kant's ideas on ethics to a global setting reinforces these conclusions, his political works explicitly critique international law as it was practiced in the 18th-century.…”

“…The difference between Paine and Kant on the issue of military intervention illuminates a question that has long troubled students of international relations. Cavallar and Reinisch (1998) relied directly on Kant in their study of intervention and peacekeeping in failed states. In their examinations of how ideas of intervention have evolved over time, Donnelly (1995) and Finnemore (2003) discussed the growing acceptance of humanitarian intervention in global society.…”

“…4 4 Several recent works challenge this reading of Kant’s apprehensions with international law (see Tesón 1998; Cavallar and Reinisch 1998; Kleingeld 2004). While applying Kant’s ideas on ethics to a global setting reinforces these conclusions, his political works explicitly critique international law as it was practiced in the 18th‐century.…”