Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch

Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch (Zum ewigen Frieden. Ein philosophischer Entwurf) is a 1795 book authored by German philosopher Immanuel Kant. In the book, Kant advances ideas that have subsequently been associated with democratic peace, commercial peace, and institutional peace. Kant proposed a peace program to be implemented by governments. The "Preliminary Articles" described these steps that should be taken immediately, or with all deliberate speed: "No secret treaty of peace shall be held valid in which there is tacitly reserved matter for a future war" "No independent states, large or small, shall come under the dominion of another state by inheritance, exchange, purchase, or donation" "Standing armies shall in time be totally abolished" "National debts shall not be contracted with a view to the external friction of states" "No state shall by force interfere with the constitution or government of another state" "No state shall, during war, permit such acts of hostility which would make mutual confidence in the subsequent peace impossible: such are the employment of assassins (percussores), poisoners (venefici), breach of capitulation, and incitement to treason (perduellio) in the opposing state" Three Definitive Articles would provide not merely a cessation of hostilities, but a foundation on which to build a peace. I.—“The civil constitution of each state shall be republican.” II.—“The law of nations shall be founded on a federation of free states.” III.—“The rights of men, as citizens of the world, shall be limited to the conditions of universal hospitality.” Kant's essay in some ways resemble modern democratic peace theory. He speaks of republican, Republikanisch (not democratic) states, which he defines to have representative governments, in which the legislature is separated from the executive. Kant claims that the republics will be at peace with each other, as they will tend towards pacifism more so than other forms of government.