Peace
Toward Perpetual Peace
In 1795 Immanuel Kant described the conditions under which states can live together without war for good, in the form of a treaty with six preparatory and three definitive articles
Key points at a glance
- Immanuel Kant published Toward Perpetual Peace in Königsberg in 1795, as a philosophical sketch in the form of a treaty between states.
- Six preliminary articles list prohibitions between states, three definitive articles describe what a lasting peace should be founded on.
- For Kant, peace is not a state of nature. It has to be established, through law and through agreements.
- Kant proposes a federation of free states that need not be a world state, and a right to visit for all people across the whole earth.
- According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education, his idea of a league of nations still had an influence when the United Nations was founded.
In numbers
1795
first edition
in Königsberg, published by Friedrich Nicolovius
6
preliminary articles
conditions between states
3
definitive articles
state, law of nations, cosmopolitan right
Preliminary articles
- Number
- six
- Content
- prohibitions that are to apply between states
- Validity
- nos. 1, 5 and 6 at once, nos. 2, 3 and 4 may be postponed
- Example
- No state shall forcibly interfere in the constitution of another.
Definitive articles
- Number
- three
- Content
- foundations on which a lasting peace is to rest
- Validity
- apply together to the state, the law of nations and cosmopolitan right
- Example
- The civil constitution of every state shall be republican.
Constitutional law
- Level
- the individual state
- Demand
- a republican constitution
- Key idea
- citizens decide whether there shall be war
Law of nations
- Level
- states among themselves
- Demand
- a federalism of free states
- Key idea
- a pacific federation instead of a peace treaty
Cosmopolitan right
- Level
- people in relation to foreign states
- Demand
- universal hospitality
- Key idea
- a right to visit, not a right to be a guest
- Author
- Immanuel Kant, 1724 to 1804
- First edition
- Königsberg 1795, Friedrich Nicolovius
- Second edition
- 1796, enlarged
- Subtitle
- A Philosophical Sketch
What does Kant's Toward Perpetual Peace say?
Immanuel Kant published the work in 1795 in Königsberg with the publisher Friedrich Nicolovius; an enlarged second edition followed in 1796. The German title is Zum ewigen Frieden, and the subtitle reads A Philosophical Sketch. In it, Kant asks under which conditions states can live together without war for good.
The text is structured like a treaty between states. The first section contains the preliminary articles, that is, preparatory conditions. The second section contains three definitive articles, which describe what a lasting peace should be founded on.
These are followed by two supplements, one on the guarantee of peace and one secret article, and by an appendix in two parts on the relationship between morality and politics. The Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) describes the work as setting out basic rules for all nations to live together peacefully, in the form of a fictitious treaty.
Where does the title come from?
Kant opens with an ironic image. The heading, he writes, stood on the sign of a Dutch innkeeper on which a churchyard was painted. What is meant is the peace of a graveyard.
Kant leaves open at whom the satire is aimed: at people in general, at heads of state who can never have enough of war, or at the philosophers who dream the sweet dream of perpetual peace.
With this he sets the tone for the whole essay. He wants to show that perpetual peace need not be a dream but can be derived from conditions that states are able to meet.
What are the preliminary articles?
The six preliminary articles name prohibitions that are to apply between states. The first states that no peace treaty shall be valid if it was made with the secret reservation of a future war. A peace treaty should therefore not hold back material for the next dispute.
Two articles concern the independence of states: no independent state shall be acquired by another through inheritance, exchange, purchase or gift, and no state shall interfere by force in the constitution and government of another. In addition there is the demand that standing armies shall in time be abolished altogether.
The fourth article prohibits national debts contracted in connection with the external affairs of the state. The sixth forbids, in war, hostilities of a kind that would make mutual trust in a future peace impossible. All six articles are quoted in full in the overview on this page.
Which three definitive articles does Kant name?
The definitive articles describe what a lasting peace should be founded on. They work at three levels: the individual state, the relationship of states to one another, and the relationship of people to foreign states.
The first article reads: The civil constitution of every state shall be republican. The second reads: The law of nations shall be founded on a federalism of free states.
The third article reads: Cosmopolitan right shall be limited to conditions of universal hospitality. Together the three articles describe an order that reaches from the individual state to the whole earth.
Why should every constitution be republican?
Kant justifies the first definitive article with a simple thought. If the consent of the citizens is needed to decide whether there shall be war or not, they will think very carefully before starting such a bad game, because they would have to bear all the hardships of war themselves.
For Kant, republican does not mean the same as democratic. By republicanism he means the separation of the executive power from the legislative power. Despotism, for him, is when a ruler arbitrarily executes laws that he has made himself.
Democracy in the proper sense of the word, in which all decide about and if need be against one, Kant therefore calls necessarily a despotism. He means an order without separation of powers. In the same section he calls every form of government that is not representative a non-form.
What does Kant mean by a league of nations and cosmopolitan right?
In the second definitive article Kant describes a federation of free states. He speaks of a league of nations (Völkerbund), which, however, need not be a state of nations (Völkerstaat). The states are thus to join together without merging into a single state.
Kant distinguishes here between a pacific federation, in Latin foedus pacificum, and a peace treaty, in Latin pactum pacis. According to Kant, a peace treaty merely ends one war, whereas the pacific federation ends all wars.
Kant limits cosmopolitan right to universal hospitality. What he means is a right to visit, which belongs to all people, to offer themselves for society. Kant bases it on the right of common possession of the surface of the earth.
What guarantees peace according to Kant?
In the first supplement Kant asks what secures perpetual peace. His answer: nothing less than the great artist nature, from whose course harmony arises out of the discord of people, even against their will.
For Kant, one of its mechanisms is trade. It is the spirit of commerce, he writes, that cannot coexist with war and that sooner or later takes hold of every people.
The best-known sentence of the essay shows that no better people are needed for this: the problem of setting up a state can be solved even for a nation of devils, if only they have understanding. A good constitution arranges opposing interests so that they hold each other in check.
What impact did the work have?
According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education, the German word Völkerbund (league of nations) first appears in the writings of Kant. In his sketch of 1795 he calls for a federation of states with equal rights to be established to secure peace.
An article in the journal Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte calls Kant's ideas central to the idea of the League of Nations. According to it, his case for an international order of peace still stood godfather to the United Nations as well, and the Federal Agency describes the work as an inspiration for drafting the UN Charter.
Kant does not describe a plan that brings about peace by itself, but conditions that states and people would have to meet. If you want to work for peace on a small scale, you will find peace missions on W3ltfrieden that you can support or start yourself.
Immanuel Kant, Second Definitive Article, translated
This would be a league of nations, which, however, need not be a state of nations.
Sources
- zeno.org: Kant's essay on peace, full text, in German
- zeno.org: first section, preliminary articles, in German
- Kant, Academy Edition, volume VIII, p. 341, in German
- bpb: idea and system of the United Nations, in German
- bpb: the quiz on 75 years of the United Nations, in German
- bpb, APuZ: from the League of Nations to the United Nations, in German
- zeno.org: second section, definitive articles, in German
- zeno.org: first supplement, on the guarantee of perpetual peace, in German
- zeno.org: second supplement, secret article, in German
- Kant, Academy Edition volume VIII, p. 343, in German
- Projekt Gutenberg: Zum ewigen Frieden, in German
The articles in full
- Preliminary Article 1No treaty of peace shall be held valid in which there is tacitly reserved matter for a future war.
- Preliminary Article 2No independent state (small or great, it makes no difference here) shall be capable of being acquired by another state through inheritance, exchange, purchase or gift.
- Preliminary Article 3Standing armies (miles perpetuus) shall in time be abolished altogether.
- Preliminary Article 4No national debts shall be contracted in connection with the external affairs of the state.
- Preliminary Article 5No state shall interfere by force in the constitution and government of another state.
- Preliminary Article 6No state at war with another shall permit itself such hostilities as must make mutual trust in a future peace impossible.
- Definitive Article 1The civil constitution of every state shall be republican.
- Definitive Article 2The law of nations shall be founded on a federalism of free states.
- Definitive Article 3Cosmopolitan right shall be limited to conditions of universal hospitality.
Frequently asked questions about Kant's Toward Perpetual Peace
What is the core message of Kant's essay on peace?
Peace does not come about by itself. Kant writes that the state of peace among people living side by side is not a state of nature, which is rather a state of war, even if hostilities do not always break out. Peace must therefore be established.
According to Kant, it is established through law: through a republican constitution in every state, a federation of free states and a cosmopolitan right that secures a right to visit for all people.
Which famous quotation comes from the essay?
A sentence from the first supplement is often quoted: The problem of setting up a state, however hard it may sound, can be solved even for a nation of devils, if only they have understanding.
Kant means that a good constitution does not require all people to be good. It only has to be arranged so that opposing private interests hold each other in check. Just as well known is his sentence about the league of nations, which, however, need not be a state of nations.
What does the secret article say?
In the second supplement Kant adds a single secret article. It reads: The maxims of philosophers on the conditions under which public peace is possible shall be consulted by states armed for war.
Why secret? For the legislative authority of a state, Kant writes, it seems belittling to seek instruction from subjects, the philosophers, yet it is very advisable to do so. The state will therefore tacitly invite them to speak freely and publicly about the maxims of waging war and making peace.
Is Toward Perpetual Peace available for free online or as a PDF?
Yes. The full German text is freely available, for example in the online library zeno.org, in the digitised Academy Edition on korpora.org, volume VIII from page 341, and at Projekt Gutenberg.
The links to all three versions are listed in the sources of this page below.
Is Kant's essay still relevant today?
The essay is still read in politics and scholarship. An article in Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte calls Kant's ideas central to the idea of the League of Nations and refers to the historian Georg Kreis, according to whom Kant's case for an international peace order still stood godfather at the founding of the United Nations.
Many of the questions in the essay are still asked: how states can settle their conflicts through law rather than force, how they can cooperate without giving up their independence, and how foreigners are treated.
More on peace
- Peace ethicsWhen may violence be used, and what makes peace just? An overview of positions from Augustine to the churches of today
- Positive and negative peaceIn 1969 Johan Galtung coined two terms that still shape how we think about peace. They separate the silence of weapons from a peace that is also just
From the idea to a mission of your own
Peace comes about where people shape it: in a neighbourhood, a school, a club. On W3ltfrieden you will find peace missions that you can start or support.
Find your peace mission