Kant and the Theory and Practice of International Right

This innovative study focuses on the Kantian theory of international relations, a subject which has frequently been either ignored or misunderstood. Kant was criticized by contemporaries who asserted that his political ideas were idealistic and impractical. He countered this accusation by evolving a political philosophy which formed a link between the theoretical doctrine of pure law and the actualities of the real world.

The author argues that Kant’s theory of international relations can be read as an attempt to bring reason and history together. Kant tries to apply the a priori principles of reason to history in general, and to the political conditions of the late eighteenth century in particular, and this volume examines the way in which he attempts to mediate between theory and practice.

In this stimulating and lucid work, Cavallar provides one of the first comprehensive examinations in English of Kant’s theory of international right.