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The Rights of Foreigners. Grotius, Pufendorf, and Kant

  • Sylvie Loriaux

    Sylvie Loriaux is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Political Science at Université Laval (Quebec, Canada). Part of her current research focuses on ’The Other Side of Freedom: Vulnerability, Diversity, and Subordination in Kantian Political Thought’ and is supported by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2023–2025). Another aspect of her research falls within the field of international political theory. She is particularly interested in the ethics of immigration (especially in connection with global forced displacement), global gender justice, and the blind spots of contemporary theories of global distributive justice. She is the author of Kant and Global Distributive Justice (Elements, Cambridge University Press, 2020), and co-edited Sincerity in Politics and International Relations (Routledge, 2017) with Sorin Baiasu.
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Kant’s Cosmopolitanism and Migration
This chapter is in the book Kant’s Cosmopolitanism and Migration

Abstract

This chapter proposes a return to early modern political thought to identify two traditional ways of conceiving the rights of foreigners: first, as revivals of the primitive community of possession of the Earth (the Grotian approach), and second, as correlates of our imperfect duty to allow others the innocent use of our goods (the Pufendorfian approach). It then shows how Kant’s cosmopolitan right departs from these natural law accounts, notably by disregarding considerations of innocent profit and necessity, and by reinterpreting the idea of common possession of the Earth. Finally, it argues that while Kant’s cosmopolitan right aims to protect individual freedom, it cannot be fully understood without acknowledging two fundamental aspects of the human condition: the ineluctability of global human interdependence and the vulnerability of the human embodied condition.

Abstract

This chapter proposes a return to early modern political thought to identify two traditional ways of conceiving the rights of foreigners: first, as revivals of the primitive community of possession of the Earth (the Grotian approach), and second, as correlates of our imperfect duty to allow others the innocent use of our goods (the Pufendorfian approach). It then shows how Kant’s cosmopolitan right departs from these natural law accounts, notably by disregarding considerations of innocent profit and necessity, and by reinterpreting the idea of common possession of the Earth. Finally, it argues that while Kant’s cosmopolitan right aims to protect individual freedom, it cannot be fully understood without acknowledging two fundamental aspects of the human condition: the ineluctability of global human interdependence and the vulnerability of the human embodied condition.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. Acknowledgment
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I Normative Accounts of Kant’s Cosmopolitan Order
  6. Borders, Cosmopolitan Sovereignty, and Global Mobility. A Kantian Account of Political Interdependence 7
  7. Cosmopolitanism and Political Realism: Kant’s Double Legacy and Contemporary Political Challenge 27
  8. Is Humanity (Morally) Progressing? Kant’s Philosophy of History under a Cosmopolitan Perspective 43
  9. Part II Kant’s Cosmopolitanism: Between Past and Future
  10. The Rights of Foreigners. Grotius, Pufendorf, and Kant 71
  11. Kant’s Cosmopolitan Philosophy in the Face of the Challenges of Migration 89
  12. No One Is Illegal (Only) in the Kingdom of Ends: Migration and the Double Legacy of Kant’s Political Philosophy 113
  13. Part III Contemporary Migration Under the Lens of Kant’s Cosmopolitan Right
  14. The Right to Dwell (Anywhere) on Earth and the Promise of Human Community 137
  15. Kant, Migration, and the Cosmopolitan Right Not to Be Treated with Hostility 159
  16. Kant and Migration: State and Demos Borders 181
  17. Notes on Contributors 203
  18. Author Index
  19. Subject Index
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111707426-006

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. Acknowledgment
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I Normative Accounts of Kant’s Cosmopolitan Order
  6. Borders, Cosmopolitan Sovereignty, and Global Mobility. A Kantian Account of Political Interdependence 7
  7. Cosmopolitanism and Political Realism: Kant’s Double Legacy and Contemporary Political Challenge 27
  8. Is Humanity (Morally) Progressing? Kant’s Philosophy of History under a Cosmopolitan Perspective 43
  9. Part II Kant’s Cosmopolitanism: Between Past and Future
  10. The Rights of Foreigners. Grotius, Pufendorf, and Kant 71
  11. Kant’s Cosmopolitan Philosophy in the Face of the Challenges of Migration 89
  12. No One Is Illegal (Only) in the Kingdom of Ends: Migration and the Double Legacy of Kant’s Political Philosophy 113
  13. Part III Contemporary Migration Under the Lens of Kant’s Cosmopolitan Right
  14. The Right to Dwell (Anywhere) on Earth and the Promise of Human Community 137
  15. Kant, Migration, and the Cosmopolitan Right Not to Be Treated with Hostility 159
  16. Kant and Migration: State and Demos Borders 181
  17. Notes on Contributors 203
  18. Author Index
  19. Subject Index
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