Between states... no punitive war is thinkable because between them a
relation of superior and inferior does not exist. Whence it follows that
a war of extermination, where the process of annihilation would strike
both parties at once and all right as well, would bring out perpetual
peace only in the great graveyard of the human race. -from "Perpetual
Peace" One of the most influential thinkers of the Western civilization,
a man who profoundly shaped the mind-set of the modern world, examines
war and human nature and concludes, bracingly, that global peace is
inevitable. Far from an unattainable utopian fantasy, this 1795 essay
lays out the requirements for peace, including republican governments,
freedom of movement for citizens, and-prophetically-the formation of a
league of nations. In this era of imperialistic ambitions and preemptive
wars, Kant's insight is a profound reminder that peace is possible but
must be actively pursued. Also available from Cosimo Classics: Kant's
Analytic of the Beautiful and Perpetual Peace. German metaphysician
IMMANUEL KANT (1724-1804) served as a librarian of the Royal Library, a
prestigious government position, and as a professor at Königsberg
University. His other works include Observations on the Feeling of the
Beautiful and Sublime (1764), Critique of Pure Reason (1781), and
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785).
