Immanuel Kant Philosophy
Introduction
During the years that Kant lived, some of the events (seven -year war) that made Europe and the world the plurinational field that we now know;among others, the declaration of independence of the United States of America and the French Revolution. Some of these events had an impact on Kant’s philosophical thought, of not having happened, some of his philosophies would not have been formulated. Throughout the Kantian work a conductive thread can be drawn through which it is possible to recognize its genuine concern about the formation of moral character and the role of reason in human behavior.
Developing
The fact that Kant first took care of epistemological problems could be read as the fulfillment of the necessary and indispensable task to set firm bases on which the most vital issues could be raised. These brief observations lead me to the conclusion that in the philosophy of Kantian history war is a natural phenomenon of human history, which does not mean that it is morally justifiable, while social order and peace are human constructs. In fact, as we will present later, for Kant, war and justice are not concepts that can be linked. The same thing is peace and not war.
Kant argues that the state of nature without laws is a state of continuous war even when there is no hostility, the situation remains war, because there is no common legal framework among individuals that ensure my neighbor’s behavior. Therefore, to get out of this state men constitute among us civil society. For Kant doing this is a categorical duty of reason "moral practical reason formula in us its irrevocable veto: there should be no war". Therefore, we consider Kant that the state of peace is not a natural state among men, but has to be established, it is the product of human will, it is a political achievement.
The problem that Kant proposes is that we find a multitude of independent states with each other, which are among them in the same war situation. But he affirms that the same requirement of reason that forces individuals to become a state to overcome the war situation also forces States to constitute a world state through which perpetual peace establishes and overcome the state of nature. The object is to show this perpetual peace not only as a demand for reason but as something possible by human beings and not only possible, but guaranteed by nature.
Kant therefore develops a work delimiting conditions, called: "On perpetual peace". It is composed of two great sections, which contain: preliminary articles and final articles for perpetual peace. The separation in two sections suggests, which is important to repair and the achievement of peace implies two differentiable stages. The first is to put limits to war through laws, in order to reduce war resources. The second stage is the one that really corresponds to the construction of peace. In addition, we find two supplements and an annex. In the latter we find the philosophical reflections of the treaty. Kant then expresses the conditions, guarantee and impediments to achieve this purpose.
The prohibition that there are secret reservations in peace treaties. According to Kant, no war peace treaty can be signed without all the hostilities that she entails, otherwise what would be doing would simply be a postponement of hostilities that would later cause war again. The prohibition that a State can be acquired by another through inheritance, exchange, purchase or donation. Kant defends: "A State is not a heritage, it is a society of men about which no one but they have the right to send and dispose". Another state could not acquire it because this would mean eliminating its existence as a moral person.
The eventual disappearance of regular armies. He maintains that a permanent army is a continuous threat to the rest of the state, since it appears prepared for any case of war, because it forces states to embark on an armed career to always be more prepared than another, this damages the prospects of peacefuture. The prohibition of public debt issuance in relation to foreign policy affairs. If we consider as an instrument of action and reaction between the powers, then it becomes a credit system composed of debts that are increasing incessantly, since this is a powerful obstacle to perpetual peace because the bankruptcy of a state will facilitate the catastrophe of manyOther states.
No State should be interfered with by force in the Constitution and the government of another. Kant states that there is no praise to intervene in another state, since it is a moral person, and therefore, it cannot be taken as a thing, or that it is subject to ambition of another that is the same. Today it can also be considered that this condition is met. No state at war with another should afford such hostilities that make mutual confidence in future peace impossible as employment in another state of murderers, poisoners, the broken of capitulations, induction to betrayal etc. These strategies are dishonorable. Here Kant aligns with the tradition of Ius in Belos, which since the Middle Ages said that not even in the war was allowed.
Also in war there are a minimum of laws that ensure mutual trust and respect between combatants, since the end of war is peace. The state with which you are now at war, is that with which in the future you will have to share peace. As war is ultimately oriented to peace any means that hinder this end must be illicit. These have are the six preliminary conditions, some of them must be considered as (prohibitive laws), some of them can be considered (strict) and true and require an (immediate) execution. As for the second section that really corresponds to the construction of peace, that is, the final articles of perpetual peace between the states.
conclusion
The civil constitution of every state must be republican. This does not mean that the monarchy is incompatible with the Republic according to Kant. Understanding that Kant does not oppose the republic to monarchy, but republic to despotism, so that if we had a non -despotic monarchy in which the king did not govern as the owner of his subjects, but as the maximum representative of his will, he would be ruling according to the spiritrepublican. For Kant the monarchy is the easiest form of government to achieve the Republican Constitution, on the contrary, democracy is the most despotic form of government and can never be republican.
So for Kant a well -understood monarchy can be republican. The principles of the Republican Constitution is based on the principles of the French Revolution: equality, freedom, fraternity and the separation of powers of Montesquieu. In a republican state, war is much more difficult than in a despotic, because in the Republic the ruler represents the will of citizens, as if the citizens themselves had to decide and load with the costs of war and therefore a represents
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