Kant’s International Relations: The Political Theology of Perpetual Peace

Why does Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) consistently invoke God and Providence in his most prominent texts relating to international politics? This question animates this study of one of the preeminent philosophers of modernity. In this wide ranging study, Se n Molloy proposes that texts such as Idea for a Universal History with Cosmopolitan Intent and Toward Perpetual Peace cannot be fully understood without reference to Kant's wider philosophical projects, and in particular the role that belief in God plays within critical philosophy and Kant's inquiries into anthropology, politics, and theology. The broader view that Molloy provides reveals the political-theological dimensions of Kant's thought as directly related to his attempts to find a new basis for metaphysics in the sacrifice of knowledge to make room for faith.