CFP: European Union as a realization of Kant's idea of perpetual peace?

Call for Papers

Rarely has a philosophical text been so richly and fruitfully received for the shaping of world politics as Kant's work "On Perpetual Peace". In this work, Kant puts forward the idea that lasting peace is not the original state (status naturalis) of nations, but must be established. The prerequisite for the realization of such an idea is the republican organization of states and respect for the sovereignty of individual states. Kant's idea was also the inspiration for the founding of the League of Nations after the First World War (1919) and for the founding of the United Nations after the Second World War. Both the League of Nations and its successor organization, the United Nations, have committed themselves in the spirit of Kant to the equality of states, loyalty to treaties, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the renunciation of the use of force in international relations, the right of peoples to self-determination, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is to Kant that we owe not only the idea of economic and cultural cooperation between states, but also modern asylum law.

The aim of the conference was to analyze and explore the extent to which the European Union as a union of sovereign states is a realization of Kant's principles from his treatise On Perpetual Peace. The conference is being organized on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Kant's birth.

Keynote lectures / Plenarvorträge:

Christoph Horn, University of Bonn

Violetta Waibel, University of Vienna

Important information

All applications should include a title and a short abstract (300 words) along with 3-5 keywords. Conference languages are English and German.

Deadline for submissions: August 15, 2024

Notification of acceptance by: September 15, 2024

The organizers cannot finance any potential costs for potential applicants. The conference charges no conference fees.

All submissions should be sent to [email protected].

The presented papers are planned for subsequent publication in a special issue of Distinctio: Journal of Intersubjective Studies. Therefore, we encourage all participants to submit full papers, although this is in no way obligatory.