Kursinformation

The course introduces students to Kant’s theory of peace. It then uses this introduction to highlight the difference between Kant’s model and the model one can infer from democratic (or liberal) peace theory, namely, the explanation of the alleged fact that democracies have never fought each other. It concludes by discussing how each model would account for the Russian aggression against Ukraine. What are the causes of that war on the two models? Is the fact that Russia is an authoritarian regime the sole relevant fact? Since Russia and Ukraine were and still are highly interdependent in their economies, as much as Russia and Europe are, does the war count as a gigantic falsification of the doctrine of doux commerce to which Kant’s third pillar of peace (cosmopolitan right) is often reduced? Does the fact that Russia still was at the beginning of the war a member of the Council of Europe count as a falsification of the second pillar, namely the idea that co-membership in a supranational federation averts war?