Immanuel Kant's Perpetual Peace and Philosophy

Immanuel Kant's First Definitive Article for Perpetual Peace

We present here a fragment of the "First Definitive Article for Perpetual Peace" authored by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). In this excerpt, the author presents the constitution that a state must have to achieve perpetual peace, along with its characteristics. This is the republican constitution, a constitution based on the principles of liberty, a single law imposed upon the subjects, and equal acceptance under the law by the state's citizens at a collective level. For Kant, this was the best civil constitution so that rights could be established within a state, thus leaving the state of nature and finally arriving at eternal peace. The author did not speak of perpetual peace as a utopia, but he truly believed that peace could be established by building a legal order that would abolish war altogether. With a republican constitution, the public will choose whether to start a war or not, as it is the people who are truly affected by war and all the suffering it entails.

Kant's Copernican Revolution

Kant uses the term "Copernican Revolution" in the Critique of Pure Reason. Just as Copernicus could not explain the celestial movements using the geocentric theory, he tested a change in perspective, leading to the heliocentric theory. In this theory, the celestial bodies revolved not around the Earth, but rather, the Earth revolved around the Sun, leaving the stars at rest. Kant decides to apply the same shift at a philosophical level, presenting a new view of reality. This consists of focusing on the human being instead of the object or the external world, thus positioning the subject as the object.

Transcendental Illusion in Kantian Philosophy

Kant uses the term "transcendental illusion" in the critique of metaphysics and the behavior of the power of reason. Transcendental illusion leads us beyond the empirical and correct use of categories, deluding us into believing that there is a broadening of pure understanding. Transcendental illusion is based on presenting us with a series of arguments that seem logical but are not; that is, they appear as objective principles, which are merely subjective.