But what exactly is Kant’s justification for the
“temporary right of sojourn”? Why does this claim bind the
will of the republican sovereign? When reflecting on the
“temporary right of sojourn” (Besuchsrecht), Kant uses two
different premises. One premise justifies the right of temporary
sojourn on the basis of the capacity of all human
beings (allen Menschen) to associate – the German reads sich
zur Gesellschaft anzubieten (Kant [1795] 1923, 443). The other
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the rights of others
premise resorts to the juridical construct of a “common possession
of the surface of the earth” (gemeinschaftlichen Besitzes
der Oberflache der Erde ¨ ) (ibid.). With respect to the second
principle, Kant suggests that to deny the foreigner and
the stranger the claim to enjoy the land and its resources,
when this can be done peacefully and without endangering
the life and welfare of original inhabitants, would be
unjust