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The Development of Kant's CosmopolitanismIn Paul Formosa, Avery Goldman & Tatiana Patrone (eds.), Politics and Teleology in Kant, University of Wales Press. pp. 59-75. 2014.
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296Nature or Providence? On the Theoretical and Moral Importance of Kant’s Philosophy of HistoryAmerican Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 75 (2): 201-219. 2001.Kant’s use of the terms ‘Nature’ and ‘Providence’ in his essays on history has long puzzled commentators. Kant personifies Nature and Providence in a curious way, by speaking of them as “deciding” to give humankind certain predispositions, “wanting” these to be developed, and “knowing” what is best for humans Moreover, he leaves the relationship between the two terms unclear. In this essay, I argue that Kant’s use of ‘Nature’ and ‘Providence’ can be clarified and explained. Moreover, I show …Read more
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719Kant on the Unity of Theoretical and Practical ReasonReview of Metaphysics 52 (2): 500-528. 1998.In his critical works of the 1780's, Kant claims, seemingly inconsistently, that (1) theoretical and practical reason are one and the same reason, applied differently, (2) that he still needs to show that they are, and (3) that theoretical and practical reason are united. I first argue that current interpretations of Kant's doctrine of the unity of reason are insufficient. But rather than concluding that Kant’s doctrine becomes coherent only in the Critique of Judgment, I show that the three st…Read more
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2Kant's changing cosmopolitanismIn Amélie Oksenberg Rorty & James Schmidt (eds.), Kant's Idea for a universal history with a cosmopolitan aim: a critical guide, Cambridge University Press. pp. 171--186. 2009.
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417Consistent egoists and situation managers: two problems for situationismPhilosophical Explorations 18 (3): 344-361. 2015.According to philosophical “situationism”, psychological evidence shows that human action is typically best explained by the influence of situational factors and not by “global” and robust character traits of the agent. As a practical implication of their view, situationists recommend that efforts in moral education be shifted from character development to situation management. Much of the discussion has focused on whether global conceptions of virtue and character, and in particular Aristotelia…Read more
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2095Romantic Cosmopolitanism: Novalis’s “Christianity or Europe”Journal of the History of Philosophy 46 (2). 2008.German Romanticism is commonly associated with nationalism rather than cosmopolitanism. Against this standard picture, I argue that the early German romantic author, Novalis (Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg, 1772–1801) holds a decidedly cosmopolitan view. Novalis’s essay “Christianity or Europe” has been the subject of much dispute and puzzlement ever since he presented it to the Jena romantic circle in the fall of 1799. On the basis of an account of the philosophical background of Novali…Read more
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177Kant’s Theory of PeaceIn Paul Guyer (ed.), Cambridge Companion to Kant and Modern Philosophy, Cambridge University Press. 2006.
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76Kant's Moral and Political CosmopolitanismPhilosophy Compass 11 (1): 14-23. 2016.In this essay, I first outline the contexts in which the idea of cosmopolitanism appears in Kant's moral and political philosophy. I then survey the three main debates regarding his political cosmopolitanism, namely, on the nature of the international federation he advocated, his theory of cosmopolitan right, and his views on colonialism and ‘race’, and I consider the relation between patriotism and cosmopolitanism in Kant's work. I subsequently discuss Kant's moral cosmopolitanism. Kant is wide…Read more
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127Immanuel Kant, ‘Toward Perpetual Peace’ and Other Writings on Politics, Peace, and History (edited book)Yale University Press. 2006.Immanuel Kant’s views on politics, peace, and history have lost none of their relevance since their publication more than two centuries ago. This volume contains a comprehensive collection of Kant’s writings on international relations theory and political philosophy, superbly translated and accompanied by stimulating essays. Pauline Kleingeld provides a lucid introduction to the main themes of the volume, and three essays by distinguished contributors follow: Jeremy Waldron on Kant’s theory of t…Read more
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2048Approaching Perpetual Peace: Kant’s Defence of a League of States and his Ideal of a World FederationEuropean Journal of Philosophy 12 (3): 304-325. 2004.There exists a standard view of Kant’s position on global order and this view informs much of current Kantian political theory. This standard view is that Kant advocates a voluntary league of states and rejects the ideal of a federative state of states as dangerous, unrealistic, and conceptually incoherent. This standard interpretation is usually thought to fall victim to three equally standard objections. In this essay, I argue that the standard interpretation is mistaken and that the three sta…Read more
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900The Problematic Status of Gender-Neutral Language in the History of Philosophy: The Case of KantPhilosophical Forum 25 134-150. 1993.The increasingly common use of inclusive language (e.g., "he or she") in representing past philosophers' views is often inappropriate. Using Immanuel Kant's work as an example, I compare his use of terms such as "human race" and "human being" with his views on women to show that his use of generic terms does not prove that he includes women. I then discuss three different approaches to this issue, found in recent Kant-literature, and show why each of them is insufficient. I conclude that the ten…Read more
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20Patriotismus bei KantIn Ralph Schumacher, Rolf-Peter Horstmann & Volker Gerhardt (eds.), Kant Und Die Berliner Aufklärung: Akten des Ix. Internationalen Kant-Kongresses. Bd. I: Hauptvorträge. Bd. Ii: Sektionen I-V. Bd. Iii: Sektionen Vi-X: Bd. Iv: Sektionen Xi-Xiv. Bd. V: Sektionen Xv-Xviii, De Gruyter. pp. 171-179. 2001.
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725Kantian PatriotismPhilosophy and Public Affairs 29 (4): 313-341. 2000.In this essay, I examine the compatibility of Kantian cosmopolitanism and patriotism. In response to recent literature, I first argue that in order to discuss this issue fruitfully, one should distinguish between three different forms of patriotism and be careful to make clear when patriotism is obligatory, permissible, or prohibited. I then show that Kantians can defend the view that civic patriotism is a duty, but that attempts to also establish nationalist patriotism and trait-based patriot…Read more
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434Kant's Cosmopolitan Law: World Citizenship for a Global OrderKantian Review 2 72-90. 1998.Kant's unduly neglected concept of cosmopolitan law suggests a third sphere of public law -- in addition to constitutional law and international law -- in which both states and individuals have rights, and where individuals have these rights as ‛citizens of the earth' rather than as citizens of particular states. I critically examine Kant's view of cosmopolitan law, discussing its addressees, content, justification, and institutionalization. I argue that Kant's conception of ‛world citizenship'…Read more
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135Defending the Plurality of States: Cloots, Kant, and RawlsSocial Theory and Practice 32 (4): 559-578. 2006.
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611Debunking Confabulation: Emotions and the Significance of Empirical Psychology for Kantian EthicsIn Alix Cohen (ed.), Kant on Emotion and Value, Palgrave. pp. 145-165. 2014.It is frequently argued that research findings in empirical moral psychology spell trouble for Kantian ethics. Sometimes the charge is merely that Kantianism is mistaken about the role of emotions in human action, but it has also been argued that empirical moral psychology ‘debunks’ Kantian ethics as the product of precisely the emotion-driven processes it fails to acknowledge. In this essay I argue for a negative and a positive thesis. The negative thesis is that the ‘debunking’ argument agains…Read more
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315Six Varieties of Cosmopolitanism in Late Eighteenth-Century GermanyJournal of the History of Ideas 60 (3): 505-524. 1999.Cosmopolitanism is not a single encompassing idea but rather comes in at least six different varieties, which have often been conflated in previous literature. This is shown on the basis of the discussion in late eighteenth-century Germany (roughly, 1780-1800). The six varieties are: (1) moral cosmopolitanism, the view that all humans belong to a single moral community; political cosmopolitanism, which advocates (2) reform of the international political and legal order or (3) a strong notion o…Read more
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677Moral consciousness and the 'fact of reason'In Andrews Reath & Jens Timmermann (eds.), Kant's Critique of Practical Reason: A Critical Guide, Cambridge University Press. 2010.At the heart of the argument of the Critique of Practical Reason, one finds Kant’s puzzling and much-criticized claim that the consciousness of the moral law can be called a ‘fact of reason’. In this essay, I clarify the meaning and the importance of this claim. I correct misunderstandings of the term ‘Factum’, situate the relevant passages within their argumentative context, and argue that Kant’s argument can be given a consistent reading on the basis of which the main questions and criticisms …Read more
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2419Kant on ‘Good’, the Good, and the Duty to Promote the Highest GoodIn Thomas Höwing (ed.), The Highest Good in Kant’s Philosophy, De Gruyter. pp. 33-50. 2016.Many regard Kant’s account of the highest good as a failure. His inclusion of happiness in the highest good, in combination with his claim that it is a duty to promote the highest good, is widely seen as inconsistent. In this essay, I argue that there is a valid argument, based on premises Kant clearly endorses, in defense of his thesis that it is a duty to promote the highest good. I first examine why Kant includes happiness in the highest good at all. On the basis of a discussion of Kant's dis…Read more
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150Just Love? Marriage and the Question of JusticeSocial Theory and Practice 24 (2): 261-281. 1998.I argue that promoting justice within marriage requires a cultural reconceptualiza¬tion of marriage itself as not merely a relationship of love, but as also a commitment to justice. I argue that it is insufficient to combat injustice in marriage with progressive laws and policies, even when combined with smart planning and bargaining on the part of women. Also necessary is a change in the way marriage itself is viewed. In addition to being regarded as an emotional commitment, it should also b…Read more
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274CosmopolitanismStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2013.The word ‘cosmopolitan’, which derives from the Greek word kosmopolitês (‘citizen of the world’), has been used to describe a wide variety of important views in moral and socio political philosophy. The nebulous core shared by all cosmopolitan views is the idea that all human beings, regardless of their political affiliation, do (or at least can) belong to a single community, and that this community should be cultivated. Different versions of cosmopolitanism envision this community in different …Read more
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19Vier Kilo, die die Kant-Lektüre erleichtern (review)Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 65 (2): 391-394. 2017.Review of: Marcus Willaschek, Jürgen Stolzenberg, Georg Mohr & Stefano Bacin (eds.), Kant-Lexikon, De Gruyter (2015)
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69Patriotism, Peace and Poverty: Reply to Bernstein and VardenKantian Review 19 (2): 267-284. 2014.In this essay I reply to Alyssa Bernstein and Helga Varden's comments on my book, Kant and Cosmopolitanism. In response to Bernstein, I argue that Kant's opposition to the coercive incorporation of states into an international federation should be interpreted as permitting no exceptions. In response to Varden, I clarify Kant's conception and defence of patriotism as a duty, and I show how Kantian cosmopolitans can rebut Bernard Williams's objection. I also explicate why, given a specific feature…Read more
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Kants Politischer KosmopolitismusJahrbuch für Recht Und Ethik 5. 1997.Against the background of a resurgence of political and philosophical interest in patriotism, a series of political philosophers have sought to revive the legacy of cosmopolitianism. Although Immanuel Kant figures centrally in these discussions, we are still in need of an adequate examination of Kant's own cosmopolitianism. The aim of this article is to fill this lacuna and to show the relevance of his thought for the current debate. Kant's unduly neglected concept of cosmopolitan law suggests a…Read more
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402Kant’s Cosmopolitan PatriotismKant Studien 94 (3): 299-316. 2003.Patriotism and cosmopolitanism are often presumed to be mutually exclusive, but Immanuel Kant defends both. Although he is best known for his moral and political cosmopolitanism, in several texts he defends the claim that we have a duty of patriotism, claiming that cosmopolitans ought to be patriotic. In this paper, I examine Kant’s different accounts of the duty of patriotism. I argue that Kant’s defense of nationalist patriotism fails, but that his argument for a duty of civic patriotism succe…Read more
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Een Kantiaanse verdediging van de vrije wilAlgemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 103 (3): 183-200. 2011.
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3259Kant's Second Thoughts on ColonialismIn Katrin Flikschuh & Lea Ypi (eds.), Kant and Colonialism: Historical and Critical Perspectives, Oxford University Press. pp. 43-67. 2014.Kant is widely regarded as a fierce critic of colonialism. In Toward Perpetual Peace and the Metaphysics of Morals, for example, he forcefully condemns European conduct in the colonies as a flagrant violation of the principles of right. His earlier views on colonialism have not yet received much detailed scrutiny, however. In this essay I argue that Kant actually endorsed and justified European colonialism until the early 1790s. I show that Kant’s initial endorsement and his subsequent criticism…Read more
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439The conative character of reason in Kant's philosophyJournal of the History of Philosophy 36 (1): 77-97. 1998.This article provides a critical discussion of the problems raised by Kant’s characterization of reason as having ‘needs’ and ‘interests’. The first part presents two examples of arguments in which this conative characterization of reason plays a crucial role. The rest of the article consists of a discussion of four different interpretations of Kant's talk of reason as having needs and interests. Having identified a number of problems with literal interpretations of the conative characterizat…Read more
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37Moral und Verwirklichung. Zu einigen Themen in Kants Kritik der praktischen Vernunft und deren Zusammenhang mit seiner GeschichtsphilosophieZeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 44 (3). 1990.