Universal Morality: Immanuel Kant

“For the sake of its own security, each nation can and should demand that the others enter into a contract resembling the civil one and guaranteeing the right of each (Kant pg 115).” Immanuel Kant has the idea of perpetual peace that could only be obtained through our universal morality. He writes a lot about morality to try and inform his readers that internationally, morality within humans needs to be acted on in a way other humans would agree with. Kant wants humans to act in a universally accepted manner. For example, if you believe stealing is okay, then you should think it is okay when someone steals from you. “The greatest problem for the human species, whose solution nature compels it to seek, is to achieve a universal civil society …show more content…
Now, if we dive deeper into Kant’s philosophy, his categorical imperative surfaces. We gave the example in class that asked if it is okay to ask for an extension on a barrowed loan? Kant would have to so no, this situation is not okay because if we make this into a universal law, then everyone would be highly discouraged to loan out his or her money. “I provisionally defined morality as a science that teaches, not how we can be happy, but how we ought to become worthy of happiness (Kant pg 63).” To be happy, it will depend on the subject’s will and not the subject ability to produce being happy. Again, Kant is saying we need to teach everyone how to be happy through a universal mortality system. On the basis of this thinking, we are able to extend its hand to the international level and see how counties around the world would engage in international …show more content…
Hobbes talks a lot about peace in a domestic setting rather than on an international level. But I believe we are able to link one to the other and compare these two writers in such way. One of the questions that was asked with Hobbes was would a Hobbesian subject make a good soldier during wartime? The answer to this question would be no because according to Hobbes, running away from certain dangers to save us is acceptable behavior. Hobbes was a realist and understands that most people would rather live in a society that was successful rather than fight and die for the possibility to make your country the best in the world. Hobbes also establishes the way of life in a common wealth. In Hobbes’s common wealth, people are profit driven, which to me is common sense. His people are industrious and want peace for the sake of profiting from their industry. This idea can be related to international relations. Countries tend be more prosperous when they are able to focus on trade rather than war or conflicts. Following this thinking, I believe Kant would agree to the overall goal here, which is to avoid conflict while making maximizing the overall common wealth. “Sovereigns are encouraged not to have major expansionist goals, which would ultimately weaken a commonwealth (Hobbes