Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay

Kant · en
Now the republican constitution apart from the soundness of its
origin, since it arose from the pure source of the concept of right,
has also the prospect of attaining the desired result, namely,
perpetual peace. And the reason is this. If, as must be so under this
constitution, the consent of the subjects is required to determine
whether there shall be war or not, nothing is more natural than that
they should weigh the matter well, before undertaking such a bad
business. For in decreeing war, they would of necessity be resolving
to bring down the miseries of war upon their country. This implies:
they must fight themselves; they must hand over the costs of the war
out of their own property; they must do their poor best to make good
the devastation which it leaves behind; and finally, as a crowning
ill, they have to accept a burden of debt which will embitter even
peace itself, and which they can never pay off on account of the new
wars which are always impending. On the other hand, in a government
where the subject is not a citizen holding a vote, (_i.e._ in a
constitution which is not republican), the plunging into war is the
least serious thing in the world. For the ruler is not a citizen,
but the owner of the state, and does not lose a whit by the war,
while he goes on enjoying the delights of his table or sport, or
of his pleasure palaces and gala days. He can therefore decide on
war for the most trifling reasons, as if it were a kind of pleasure
party.[120] Any justification of it that is necessary for the sake of
decency he can leave without concern to the diplomatic corps who are
always only too ready with their services.

  [120] Cf. Cowper: _The Winter Morning Walk_:—

    “But is it fit, or can it bear the shock
    Of rational discussion, that a man,
    Compounded and made up like other men
    Of elements tumultuous, . . . . . . .
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
    Should when he pleases, and on whom he will,
    Wage war, with any or with no pretence
    Of provocation giv’n or wrong sustain’d,
    And force the beggarly last doit, by means
    That his own humour dictates, from the clutch
    Of poverty, that thus he may procure
    His thousands, weary of penurious life,
    A splendid opportunity to die?”
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
    “He deems a thousand or ten thousand lives
    Spent in the purchase of renown for him,
    An easy reckoning.” [Tr.]


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