Universal and Perpetual Peace

The mini course contrasts and compares two philosophical positions on the juridico-political regulation of international relations in the late eighteenth century: Kant’s fictional peace treaty “Toward Perpetual Peace. A Philosophical Project“ (1795) and the journal article “Universal Peace“ (1792) by James Madison, one of the founding figures of the United States of America and their 4th President. The course places the two texts in their historical and systematic context. The focus is on the twin politico-philosophical principles of republicanism and federalism embraced, in different ways, by Madison and Kant. Special consideration is given to the relation of Madison’s and Kant’s textsto Montesquieu’s critique of universal monarchy (1733), Rousseau’s earlier peace writings (1761) and the federalism issue in the American constitutional debate (1787/88).

Texts (all provided as pdf documents):

•  Montesquieu, Reflections on Universal Monarchy in Europe; 

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Plan for Perpetual Peace, On the Government of Poland, and Other Writings…