German Philosophy Group Presents: Konstantin Pollok
German Philosophy Group presents
A Discussion with Prof. KONSTANTIN POLLOK
Department of Philosophy, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
TITLE: Kant's Road to Perpetual Peace
On the Concluding Remark of the Doctrine of Right
ABSTRACT: In this talk I will analyze the concluding paragraph of Kant’s Doctrine of Right (1797) where he claims that “the universal and permanent establishment of peace constitutes not merely a part of the doctrine of right but rather the entire final end of the doctrine of right within the limits of mere reason”. I will defend the following two claims, (1) that Kant’s theory of peace is synthetic a priori (juridical-normative, not ethical-normative) from start to finish, and (2) that there is an irreducibly political dimension to Kant’s ethics. Starting from the notion of ‘intelligible possession’ as one of Kant’s key concepts in natural right, I will demonstrate how, according to Kant, the “metaphysically sublimated” idea of a social contract can be realized only in a republican constitution. Next, I will introduce Kant’s notion of ‘provisional right’ in order to show how (besides the ‘nation of devils’ argument) he conceives of the transition from the state to the interstate level, where humanity “through continual approximation” ought to strive towards “the highest political good, perpetual peace”, even though this may remain forever an ideal. Finally, I will sketch an analogy and a connection between Kant’s ideas of an individual and a political “final end” and argue that the reasonableness of our hope for a piecemeal realization of peace must be built not so much on God’s assistance, nor on the mechanism of nature, but rather on our duty to implement our innate right to external freedom of choice.--
Prof. Konstantin Pollok is University Professor and Head of the Kant Research Center (Kant-Forschungsstelle) at Johannes Guttenberg Universität Mainz. He is co-editor of Kant-Studienand Journal of Transcendental Philosophy. He is author of Kant's Theory of Normativity: Exploring the Space of Reasons (winner of the NAKS senior scholar book prize), and of the principal, comprehensive commentary of Kant's Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science. Prof. Pollok was twice a visiting assistant professor at Stanford, and we're delighted to welcome him back!