1658 – 1743
Charles-Irénée Castel, Abbé de Saint-Pierre (1658–1743), was a French political thinker and prolific reformer of the early Enlightenment. He is best known for his 'Project for Perpetual Peace' (1713), which proposed a federation of European sovereigns as a mechanism for eliminating war. His rationalist program for institutional reform influenced Rousseau, who edited his peace writings, and prefigured Kant's essay on perpetual peace.
Authored 'Projet pour rendre la paix perpétuelle en Europe' (1713), a foundational text in international relations theory
Proposed a permanent federation of European states with collective enforcement mechanisms to prevent war
Directly influenced Kant's 'Perpetual Peace' and Rousseau's political writings on international order
Advocated early forms of international arbitration and democratic accountability in governance
Expelled from the Académie française for criticizing Louis XIV's reign, reflecting his commitment to rational reform over deference to authority