De-colonizing the political ontology of Kantian ethics: A quantum perspective
| Published date | 01 October 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1755088220946777 |
| Date | 01 October 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088220946777
Journal of International Political Theory
2021, Vol. 17(3) 448 –467
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1755088220946777
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De-colonizing the political
ontology of Kantian ethics:
A quantum perspective
Laura Zanotti
Virginia Tech, USA
Abstract
This article explores the relevance of ontological assumptions for justifications of agency
and ethics. It critiques Kantian ethics for being based upon an ontological imaginary that
starts from the substantialism of Newtonian physics. Substantialism shapes Western
political philosophy’s view about who we are as subjects and how the world works. In
this ontological imaginary, validation of ethics is based upon universality and abstractions.
Furthermore, Kantian ethics underscores an anthropocentric and theocratic vision
of how to govern societies. I argue Kantian criteria are not only insufficient to make
good choices but are also conducive to wrong ones, since they elicit self-appeasement in
international intervention, and contribute to the conceptual repertoire of coloniality.
I propose that an ontology of entanglements opens possibilities for overcoming the
shortcomings of an ethos based upon abstractions and possibly for correcting some of
its moral failures. In a quantum ontological imaginary, the validation of ethical choices
relies instead upon the exploration of the apparatuses we deploy, as well as upon
careful situational evaluation. Specific practices, rather than an abstract humanity, are
the referents for devising such ethos. This position, I argue, resonates with the critical
project of decoloniality and its acknowledgment of the political salience of ontological
imaginaries.
Keywords
Decoloniality, ethics, international intervention, Kant, ontology, quantum theories
This article explores the connections between the ontological assumptions of Newtonian
physics and Kantian ethics. The Enlightenment ontological imaginary shapes the way we
Corresponding author:
Laura Zanotti, Virginia Tech, 509 Major Williams Hall (0130), Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA.
Email: lzanotti@vt.edu
946777IPT0010.1177/1755088220946777Journal of International Political TheoryZanotti
research-article2020
Article
Zanotti 449
justify agency and offer solutions to political problems. This article performs an onto-
logical critique of the Kantian position. I explore this position’s connections with a colo-
nial political imaginary, its implications for international intervention, as well as the
possibility of re-imagining ethics beyond Kantian strictures. The unquestioned presup-
positions of Kantian ethics, based on universality and abstractions, also constitute the
onto-epistemological matrix of coloniality, a matrix that is also at the root of many short-
comings of international development and peace-building. Is it possible to re-imagine
ethics without embracing the Kantian dualistic idea of nature and reason? Could we
imagine subjects differently, not merely as monads ontologically programmed to pursue
self-interest against others, the primary presupposition of both realism and economic
liberalism?
Kant fears the abyss in which we may plunge if we cannot grasp a universal, constant,
and stable truth. Conversely, in this article, I argue the need for certainty in his ethical
project is frightening. What if, instead of imagining the universe as the manifestation of
a master plan already written, we think of the universe as unfolding, and of ourselves as
responsible for the cascade effects we produce in the context of the possibilities that are
available for us as finite human beings? What if we embrace uncertainty as an ontologi-
cal trait of the world, instead of certainty warranted by a deity as the foundation of eth-
ics? Ultimately, what kind of implication would reorienting International Relations’ (IR)
ontological imaginary have for the justification of practices of international interven-
tion? In this article, I argue that by embracing deep relationality and uncertainty, quan-
tum physics’ ontological imaginary opens alternative possibilities for justifying agency,
devising political change, and engaging in international intervention.
Quantum theory’s ontology of entanglements, relationality, and non-linear causality
depicts a radically different cosmology from Newtonian physics and Kantian philoso-
phy. In doing so, it opens the way for re-thinking what the universe is made of and how
we inhabit it.1 This ontological imaginary contributes to a critique of Western cosmology
and to the “epistemic reconstitution” that is central to decolonial thought (Escobar, 2018;
Mignolo, 2002; Mignolo and Walsh, 2018). Quantum ontological imaginaries embrace
non-linear relations of causality, focus on change instead of immutable regularities,
acknowledge contextual adjudications of the right course of action, and value micropo-
litical interventions as bearing non-local effects.2 Ultimately, they challenge aspirations
to universality in favor of a pluriversal mode of existence.
Exploring the dark side of Kantian ethics: Substantialism,
certainty, coloniality, and theocracy
The prevalent ontological imaginary within Western political thought broadly relies
upon three theoretical foundations: the Kantian dichotomy of reason and nature, the
Cartesian dualism of mind and matter, and the ontological assumptions of Newtonian
physics. Newtonian physics explains the world as consisting of entities with stable char-
acteristics, standing in a relation of externality to one another. Causality is limited to
law-regularity and can be represented through mathematical equations. Furthermore,
causality, reduced to relations of push and pull, is reversible. Both in the Kantian and
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