State Sovereignty, Federation and Kantian Cosmopolitanism

Abstract

This article examines the role of states in Kantian cosmopolitanism and seeks to clarify the relationship between the rights of states and the concept of cosmopolitan law. The argument is made that states play an important role within Kantian theory, but that the concept of absolute sovereignty is also ultimately rejected. The article examines the Kantian argument for domestic right, international right and cosmopolitan right, and provides an alternative view of these conceptions against the argument that Kantianism involves the removal of states and the creation of an overarching global government. It establishes that Kantian cosmopolitanism provides a normative ethical global order without the existence of a world government. From this discussion, the relevance of Kantian cosmopolitanism is also examined in relation to contemporary International Relations theory.