Kant S Principles Of Politics

Excerpt from Kant's Principles of Politics: Including His Essay on Perpetual Peace, a Contribution to Political Science In 1795, during Washington's administration, just as our great American experiment in self-government had been inaugurated, Immanuel Kant published in Konigsberg his memorable tractate on "Eternal Peace." It was in many respects the most remarkable prophecy and program ever made of the day when the war drum shall throb no longer, and the battle flags shall be furled in "the parliament of man, the federation of the world." The prophecy is never forgotten by those who are in earnest about having it fulfilled. The name of Immanuel Kant, greatest of modern philosophers, is honored in Europe and America alike as that of the preeminent philosopher of the peace movement. But few perhaps remember the words in his immortal essay which seem a special prophecy of the part which our republic seems destined to take in the promotion of the cause in which the great philosopher was a pioneer. "If happy circumstances bring it about," wrote Kant, "that a powerful and enlightened people form themselves into a republic, - which by its very nature must be disposed in favor of perpetual peace, - this will furnish a center of federative union for other States to attach themselves to, and thus to secure the conditions of liberty among all States, according to the idea of the right of nations; and such a union would extend wider and wider, in the course of time, by the addition of further connections of this kind." It was a remarkable insight of Kant's that universal peace could come only with the universal republic. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Kant's Principles of Politics: Including His Essay on Perpetual Peace, a Contribution to Political Science Kant undoubtedly owed much to the fact that he was a thorough scientist before he became a speculative metaphysician. His own development was typical of the revolution in the method of thought which has pro duced modern philosophy that certain knowledge of the real world must be the basis of all true knowledge of the ideal world, or that Physics must precede Metaphysics. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was considered to be one of the most important and influential figures in Western philosophy for his work in the areas of metaphysics, anthropology, theoretical physics, logic, and moral philosophy. Remarkably, Kant never left the town of Konigsberg, Germany, where he had been born, received schooling, and served as lecturer at the University. Despite his provinciality, Kant developed original and comprehensive ideas in the field of politics, including his opposition to democracy, the establishment of lasting world peace, and the development of a political community of constitutional republics, all grounded on the principle of Right. This work contains Kant's "Idea of a Universal Cosmopolitical History, Principles of Political Right, The Principle of Progress," and his most famous essay, "Perpetual Peace," the formal exposition of Kant's political idea in which he proposed the creation of a International Federation as a means to secure 'the sweet dream of peace'.

In this masterful work, both an illumination of Kant’s thought and an important contribution to contemporary legal and political theory, Arthur Ripstein gives a comprehensive yet accessible account of Kant’s political philosophy. Ripstein shows that Kant’s thought is organized around two central claims: first, that legal institutions are not simply responses to human limitations or circumstances; indeed the requirements of justice can be articulated without recourse to views about human inclinations and vulnerabilities. Second, Kant argues for a distinctive moral principle, which restricts the legitimate use of force to the creation of a system of equal freedom. Ripstein’s description of the unity and philosophical plausibility of this dimension of Kant’s thought will be a revelation to political and legal scholars. In addition to providing a clear and coherent statement of the most misunderstood of Kant’s ideas, Ripstein also shows that Kant’s views remain conceptually powerful and morally appealing today. Ripstein defends the idea of equal freedom by examining several substantive areas of law—private rights, constitutional law, police powers, and punishment—and by demonstrating the compelling advantages of the Kantian framework over competing approaches.

The original edition of Kant: Political Writings was first published in 1970, and has long been established as the principal English-language edition of this important body of writing. In this new, expanded edition, two important texts illustrating Kants's view of history are included for the first time: his reviews of Herder's Ideas on the Philosophy of The History of Mankind and Conjectures on the Beginning of Human History; as well as the essay What is Orientation in Thinking. In addition to a general introduction assessing Kant's political thought in terms of his fundamental principles of politics, this edition also contains such useful student aids as notes on the texts, a comprehensive bibliography, and a new postscript, looking at some of the principal issues in Kantian scholarship that have arisen since first publication.