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From this foundation of positive moral freedom flows the well-known precept that we must, in
a just society, always treat others as “Ends in Themselves”. We owe to one another the
proper exercise of moral freedom, and must work together to create the kind of society which
will give this freedom full expression. This kind of liberalism is indeed very different from the
Anglo-Saxon brand. While it can countenance quite considerable state action in the name of
making citizens’ freedom “real”, it harbors a deep suspicion of any sort of (imposed) external
state power.
In his seminal work “Perpetual Peace” (1795), Kant goes on to outline three Articles of
Peace, to be freely accepted by all nations in a universally civil international legal system.
They are, first, an understanding that the civil constitution of every member state is assumed
to be “republican”, second, that these states then band together willingly in a foedus
pacificum (pacific federation or union) and, third, that all then subject themselves voluntarily
to the precepts of “cosmopolitan law”. When properly followed, these three precepts will then
show the way to “perpetual peace”, allowing “the mechanical process of nature to visibly
exhibit the purposive plan of producing concord among men, even against their will, and
indeed by means of their very discord”.
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Thus Kantian ethics and politics are intertwined: as
individuals strive to fulfil their ethical duty, they will also follow a larger hidden plan of nature,
creating a just international society along the way.
It must be pointed out that Kant himself recognized this vision to be somewhat utopian. He
speaks of a “respublica noumenon”, an ideal which is probably practically never to be fully
attained. Thus, at least in the sphere of international relations, he is probably more of a
quasi-Platonist than a Rawlsian constructivist. The international “Kingdom of Ends” is
perhaps difficult to envision and attain, but it is, in the end, real, not just a thought
experiment. It is the ultimate normative foundation under international political relations.
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Convention