Kant' Cosmopolitan Rights and the Rights of the "Others"

Kant’s understanding of cosmopolitan right, elaborated in the Third Article of his essay on “Perpetual Peace” and The Metaphysics of Morals, enjoys considerable attention today under the current conditions of the refugee crisis and globalization. Geneva Convention’s principle of “non-refoulement” concerning the Status of Refugees mainly relies on Kant’s claim that first entry should always be granted to those who are in danger. The paper will focus first on the distinction Kant makes between “the right to be a permanent visitor” and the “temporary right of sojourn.” Though the Kantian hospitality “is not a question of philanthropy but of right,” yet it is confined to a claim to temporary residency. Furthermore, Kant’s universal right to hospitality is viewed as an imperfect moral duty, i.e., imposes no obligation upon us to offer shelter to those who are in danger. Second, the paper will elucidate the dilemmas the Kantian right to hospitality is caught considering the contemporary refugee crisis. Notwithstanding its liberal context, the Kantian Cosmopolitan Right seems to anticipate the tension between a universal morality dictated by the premises of Practical Reason and the legal right of the modern national state to grant full political membership to the “others”, refugees, immigrants, etc.