In this paper, I analyze Kant’s account of the rights of states and non-state groups to territory.I explore Kant’s idea that rights to land are a necessary requirement of pure practical reason and defend the view that territorial rights are important because they provide a better (relatively omnilateral) standard for quantifying acquisition, which is one of the main functions a condition of distributive justice must perform. Territorial rights must be respected despite their provisional character in Kant’s theory because they enable the necessary transitional steps towards a condition of cosmopolitan or global justice.
I argue that Kant provides a significant alternative to contemporary theories of territorial rights on offer such as acquisition theories, nationalist theories and legitimacy based theories. I also criticise recent Kantian accounts of territorial rights.
