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Kant’s Cosmopolitan Philosophy in the Face of the Challenges of Migration

  • Gustavo Leyva

    Gustavo Leyva is Full Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana -Iztapalapa in Mexico City. Doctorate in Philosophy at the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen in Tübingen, Germany, with a DAAD scholarship. Postdoctoral stay at the Philosophisches Seminar of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (2001–2003) and at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main (2019–2020) in both cases as a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His lines of research are social and political Philosophy, German Idealism and Critical Theory. President of SEKLE (Sociedad de Estudios Kantianos en Lengua Española) for the period 2018–2022. His recent publications include Los Rostros de la Razón. Immanuel Kant desde Hispanoamérica edition with Álvaro Peláez and Pedro Stepanenko, Barcelona / Mexico City, 2018) and the edition of Guía Kant Comares (Granada, 2023).
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Kant’s Cosmopolitanism and Migration
This chapter is in the book Kant’s Cosmopolitanism and Migration

Abstract

In this paper, I address the importance of Kantian cosmopolitanism in order to reflect on an issue that has occupied a central place in moral and political philosophy in recent years: the problem of migration. I am interested in showing that and how the theoretical-systematic introduction of Cosmopolitan Right into the architecture of Public Right by Kant opens up the possibility of offering a normative response at the level of legal and political philosophy to the problem of migration. At the same time, it is necessary to point out at least two limitations of Cosmopolitan Right in the way that Kant has proposed it, namely: on the one hand, the problems of its materialization and institutionalization and, on the other hand, its insufficiency to address the social and economic inequalities between the various States on the surface of the earth that are at the basis of contemporary migratory movements.

Abstract

In this paper, I address the importance of Kantian cosmopolitanism in order to reflect on an issue that has occupied a central place in moral and political philosophy in recent years: the problem of migration. I am interested in showing that and how the theoretical-systematic introduction of Cosmopolitan Right into the architecture of Public Right by Kant opens up the possibility of offering a normative response at the level of legal and political philosophy to the problem of migration. At the same time, it is necessary to point out at least two limitations of Cosmopolitan Right in the way that Kant has proposed it, namely: on the one hand, the problems of its materialization and institutionalization and, on the other hand, its insufficiency to address the social and economic inequalities between the various States on the surface of the earth that are at the basis of contemporary migratory movements.

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/10.1515/9783111707426-007

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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