Kant’s domestic analogy

International and Global Order

Bibliographic Data

ID6060767
AuthorsRegan Burles (0000-0002-7246-7211, Queen Mary University of London, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume29
Issue2
Pages501-522
Publication date2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of International Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-0661 • E-ISSN: 1460-3713
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/13540661221133976
OpenAlexW4307693719
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited48

The domestic analogy is an old but persistent problem in theories of international politics. This paper examines the problem in the work of Immanuel Kant, whose political writings are often cited as a paradigmatic example of the analogy between individuals and states. Attention to Kant’s own conception of analogy, however, shows that the political writings are structured by another “domestic analogy”—between international and cosmopolitan right. This analogy, I argue, is based on a correspondence between the systematic unity of the international and the spherical globe, the figure that for Kant represents the boundaries of world order. International and cosmopolitan right are thus distinguished on the basis of a geopolitical criterion: the global scope of international order. This analogy of order, the paper argues, thus works to domesticate world politics through the structural form of international order. To the extent that contemporary theories of international relations rely on this conception of order, they accept Kant’s answer to the problem of perpetual peace. The paper concludes by drawing broader conclusions from the analysis about the domestic analogy, international order, and world politics

Analogy · Economics · Epistemology · Geopolitics · Global politics · Globe · International relations · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Psychology

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