Common Concepts of Immanuel Kant's "The Perpetual Peace" and The Charter of the United Nations

Abstract

The essay compares selected Kantian ideas stated in The Perpetual Peace with the institutions established by the Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice. The concept of a nation and its position in international law in view of the Charter will be presented and linked with the Kantian theory of sovereignty of Nations. The core of the paper is an afterthought on the supremacy of three separate powers over the Nations, hence the question of the rules of procedure held by the International Court of Justice will be regarded as the consequence of the idea of sovereign equality. The Kantian concept: "Nations, as states, may be judged like individuals”: (Kant, 1917, p. 128) is observed from the perspective of state’s demand for independence. The institution of the International Court of Justice is presented as a universal supreme body. The key issue of the essay is the federative character of union as a guarantee of eternal peace seen as common point in both of the documents discussed.