I am a PhD candidate at the Department of Jurisprudence of Leiden University, where I am preparing a doctoral thesis on the relevance of Immanuel Kant’s political philosophy to international law and international relations.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in Law and master’s degrees in Public International Law and in Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law (cum laude) from Leiden University. I wrote my joint master’s thesis, supervised by Prof. Bastiaan Rijpkema and Dr. Letizia Lo Giacco, on the legal philosophy of Immanuel Kant and its relation to the right to self-determination in international law.
During my studies I worked for over three years as a student assistant at the Europa Institute, editing the book reviews for the Common Market Law Review. I also served as an editor of the faculty magazine NOVUM, of which I was editor in chief in 2020-2021, and taught working groups for first-year students.
My PhD research, supervised by Prof. Afshin Ellian and Dr. Gelijn Molier, explores the possibilities of the application of Immanuel Kant’s political philosophy to international law and international relations. In his works, Kant sets out a vision of international order that has often been derided as either hopelessly idealistic, or as a façade for the exercise of raw power. In my thesis, I argue that neither of these views is an accurate representation of Kant’s thought and that Kant has a much more nuanced yet realistic conception of international relations that can serve as a basis for foreign policy.
My main research interests are the legal and political philosophy of Immanuel Kant and neo-Kantian legal philosophy, the history and theory of international law, and private law theory. I also have an interest in EU constitutional and external relations law, the law of international organizations, and legal history.
I am a member of the editorial board of the Netherlands International Law Review where I am responsible for the book review section. My work has appeared in Ars Aequi, Common Market Law Review, European Papers, and Nederlands Juristenblad; my popular writings in Trouw and Dagblad van het Noorden. I teach or have taught in the first-year course Introduction to Legal Methodology, electives on “Law and Literature” and “Rule of law and democracy: contemporary questions”, the master’s course in Legal Theory and International Law, and supervise bachelor’s theses on international legal theory.
Joris van de Riet 