War and Peace in Kant’s and Hegel’s Consideration

by Vadym Tytarenko^1
1 Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Kyiv, Ukraine)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29202/phil-cosm/22/17
Received: July 10, 2018 / Accepted: August 3, 2018 / Published: January 25, 2019

This paper touches upon the selected issues of Kant’s and Hegel’s political philosophy, namely “war”, “revolution” and “peace”. The reason why the certain authors were chosen is that Kant and Hegel appear to be the most significant and influential within and beyond German Classical Idealistic paradigm. The author conducts the rational reconstruction of the Kant’s and Hegel’s consideration of mentioned concepts in the field of History of Philosophy. Reconsideration of mentioned political reflections, in the author’s honest opinion, might productively contribute to the composition of the anticrisis strategy of the development of contemporary Ukrainian society. The author came to the conclusion, that Kant and Hegel have a common negative attitude to the phenomenon of revolution because in their common opinion it inevitably leads to the anarchy, violence and collapse of any constitutional order. On the contrast, their attitude to the phenomenon of war has nothing in common. Kant states that nothing can be more harmful to the development of mankind then war. Hegel claims a war to be a highly significant condition of the national unity, spirit and freedom. When it comes to the concept of peace, Kant holds an optimistic and romantic position and proclaims the possibility of an idea of perpetual peace. Hegel looks at the idea of perpetual peace from the sceptical perspective, considering it to be too abstract and impossible in real life.
Keywords: War; Peace; Revolution; German Idealism, Kant; Hegel; Sustainable Development

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Tytarenko, Vadym (2019) War and Peace in Kant’s and Hegel’s Consideration. Philosophy and Cosmology, Volume 22, 181-187. https://doi.org/10.29202/phil-cosm/22/17