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Liberalism In Immanuel Kant's The Perpetual Peace

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Immanuel Kant was arguably the greatest classical liberalist theorist, influencing the majority of works in the period of Enlightenment, most notably of those on epistemology, with a lasting effect on philosophies that came after his own. Kant’s idea for perpetual peace came in the form of an essay, titled ‘The Perpetual Peace’, detailing a prophetic discourse of eternal, universal peace that was investable and conceivable, before his time and subsequently after (Friedrich 1947, p.10). Kant’s writings developed after Europe’s Fascist and National Socialist movements ended, resulting in a Charter for perpetual peace, achievable by a treatise itemising a new world of United Nations (Friedrich 1947, p.10).
In his essay, Kant satirically tells …show more content…
Yet Doyle argues that Kant’s philosophies are the best explanation for peace. Doyle contends that the loss of liberal states to aggressors such as the hegemonic US threatens the liberal peace in Kant’s cosmopolitan world, as liberal states need each other’s provision to ensure peace (Doyle 1983, …show more content…
This league would uphold vital moral standards needed for man to achieve peace, and be a body of reason and delegation for times where global authority is needed. Kant’s belief that perpetual peace was achievable and inevitable, just like progress in man’s abilities, it would be a long but rewarding progression, yielding results in the future. Kant posits that trade cannot coexist with war, and sooner or later this all of man will be affected (Kant 1983[1795], pp. 125[368]) ‘…as long as these powers belong to a nation, financial power may be the most reliable in forcing nations to pursue the noble cause of peace (though not from moral motives); and wherever in the world war threatens to break out, they will try to head it off through mediation, just as if they were permanently leagued for this purpose’ (Kant 1983[1795], pp.125[368]). Kant’s perpetual peace would occur through unintentional effects of man’s self-interested actions, with no intention of perpetuating peace, yet nature would cause these effects of ill-morals to be in favour of perpetual

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