The Moral Standing of the State in International Politics

A Kantian account of the moral personality of the state and its political and philosophical implications.

Kant’s moral and political philosophy has been indispensable to the development of ethical thinking in international relations. This study argues that Kant’s theory of the state is crucial to understanding the notion of the oft-cited concept of the moral agency of the state. For Kant, the state not only possesses duties but also has inalienable rights. In this book, Milla Emilia Vaha explores the implications of the moral state, examining the status of several contemporary states and their ethical behavior. Vaha argues that in order to move towards peace, every state must be understood as having moral standing that must be respected in a morally imperfect world.