El derecho cosmopolita de Fichte a la luz de la crítica de Hegel al <i>Grundlage des Naturrechts</i>

Abstract

In 1802–1803, Hegel developed a radical criticism of Fichte’s natural right of Jena, in which he explained that the assumption of universal egoism, upon which Fichte founds his entire system of applied right, cannot support the functioning of the political community. On the contrary, Hegel argued, it is necessary to draw upon externalities such as the virtues of either the ephors or natural ephors. In this paper, I show that Hegel’s argument is also applicable to Fichte’s international right, for regarding that realm Fichte also assumes universal egoism, chiefly in order to construct a system that discourages states from attacking others out of fear of coercion represented in a possible declaration of war. Yet, the constant threat of such attacks prevents society from cultivating a peaceful world order—one in which the rights of all are respected.