International Law in Habermas and Rawls in the context of Kant's perpetual peace

Habermas and Rawls discuss the function of international law as a philosophical problem in establishing world peace. While both philosophers shape their theories and despite they agreed to take Kant and his perpetual peace idea as their basic reference, Habermas develops an international law theory, starting from communicative action, and Rawls developed a theory taking the idea of justice into centre of this theory. Hence in this study the effects of Kant on Habermas and Rawls are examined and starting from this point their international law theories are compared. In this context the thesis is composed of three chapters. So in the first chapter the historical background and the philosophical roots of the international law are examined. In this respect the idea of perpetual peace in Kant's philosophy is studied in detail. In the second chapter Habermas's theory of international law is discussed in the context of its relationship with the theory of communicative action. In the third chapter Rawls theory of international law is examined in the context of the relationship with the theory of justice and political conception. In the finally chapter, the theories of international law of Habermas and Rawls is compared with the idea of perpetual peace of Kant. KEYWORDS: Peace, War, International Law, Perpetual Peace, Communication, Justice.