Heiwa no tsuikyu (The Pursuit of Peace - Cosmopolitanism and Patriotism in Eighteenth-Century France)

The end of the era of war heralded the advent of an era marked by peace and prosperity. Regrettably, this promise of a bright future that colored eighteenth-century France has been repeatedly betrayed. It is perhaps for this reason that, today, we need to return to this original standpoint, which represents the moment witnessing the birth of some important ideas and institutions conceived for the sake of peace—the ideal of pacifism and cosmopolitanism, the establishment of international organizations such as the United Nations, and the promotion of peace based on economic interdependence.
 
The book begins by clarifying the meaning of “world citizen” (cosmopolite in French) as it was employed in this period. The term was initially used to critically refer to rootless individuals who, like the ancient Greek Diogenes, rejected the idea of a homeland and opted for a wandering life. However, by the first half of the 18th century, an alternative conceptualization of cosmopolite had gained prevalence: an individual who acknowledges responsibilities to their family and country but prioritizes obligations to humanity above all. This marked the emergence of cosmopolitanism, which advocates the fulfilment of moral obligations as a member of the human race. Although the idea originated with the ancient Stoics, its popularity was captured in the words of Fénelon, who reportedly declared, “I love my family more than myself, I love my homeland more than my own family. But I love mankind even more than my homeland.” One of the achievements of this book is its clarification of the relationship between these two contrasting images of cosmopolite.
 
The book then explores the idea of resolving conflicts through the establishment of international institutions. Although Immanuel Kant’s Perpetual Peace is well known as the inspiration for the League of Nations, the book emphasizes that the real pioneer of this institution was L'abbé de Saint-Pierre. His plan for a union of states whose aim was to create an arbitration body where each member country would exercise an equal vote and conflicts would be resolved by majority rule, thereby preventing wars among nations. It is also interesting to note that the Holy Roman Empire was one of the models for this body. In eighteenth-century France, the idea of uniting states was actively discussed, giving rise to ambitious thought experiments that not only played a role in the formation of federal states like the United States of America but also led to proposals for establishing a confederacy in pursuit of peace.
 
Third, the book focuses on the idea of peace through commerce—i.e., that the mutual benefits of exchanging goods through a global market would bring about peace among nations. This idea served as a precursor to today’s theory of economic interdependence. The premise was that, recognizing the profitability of commerce over warfare, humanity would progressively abstain from using force. However, this optimistic vision was soon met with a dose of reality. The allure of monopolizing profits by implementing measures to hinder the development of other nations ("jealousy of trade") proved insurmountable; some even advocated the use of slaves in colonies from the standpoint of economic rationality. The light and shadow of commercial peace theory continues to be a subject of debate to this day.
 
In addition to elucidating the theory behind these approaches to achieving peace, one of the aims of this book is to give voice to those who have struggled in the pursuit of peace.
 

(Written by KAWADE Yoshie, Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics / 2023)