ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ground for an analysis of Kant's cosmopolitan right. The theory of international hospitality is embedded in the endorsement of a cosmopolitan juridical and/or moral commonwealth, or of a global civil society based on shared political principles. From a cosmopolitan perspective, the sovereign state, even if it has turned into a republic, is a necessary but incomplete step in the evolution of right. The chapter argues that Immanuel Kant can be considered a natural lawyer, especially because he rejects empirical consent theories and endorses the primacy of natural right over positive legislation. It shows why Kant is a strong supporter of the domestic analogy, albeit in a qualified sense. The chapter provides Chinese and Japanese isolationist policies and highlights Chinese willingness to assimilate European law of nations in the early nineteenth century. It presents some objections against this interpretation, and offers a modified approach which stresses the problem of institutionalization.
