Abstract

This chapter offers a reading of Kant’s essay _Perpetual Peace._ Echoing his earlier essays on enlightenment, Kant argues that a cosmopolitan future is implicit in Nature’s purposes for humanity, and that these purposes unfold in human history. The chapter focuses especially on his version of cosmopolitanism, his idea of a limited ‘right to hospitality’, and his attitude to war. It also discusses his approach to ‘cosmopolitan right’ in relation to Hannah Arendt’s reconstruction of a Kantian political philosophy, centred on judgement and imagination. Special attention is given to the relevance of Kant’s approach to hospitality for contemporary issues associated with refugees.