International law and political philosophy: Uncovering new linkages

Abstract

Despite a common agenda of normative analysis of the international order, philosophical work on international political morality and international law and legal scholarship have, until recently, worked at a distance from one another. The mutual suspicion can be traced to different aims and methodologies, including a divide between work on matters of deep structure, on the one hand, and practical institutional analysis and prescription, on the other. Yet international law is a key part of the normative practices of states, has a direct effect on state behavior, and, as a methodological matter, can contribute to good theorizing on matters of international ethics. Recently, philosophical work has demonstrated a greater engagement with the moral aspects of international law. One strand of scholarship has treated the rules of international law as a proper subject for philosophical inquiry. Another has used international legal rules to support moral arguments about aspects of the international order. Future dialogue and cooperation would benefit both fields, in particular on the challenges to global cooperation from nationalism and on strategies for allocating responsibilities among global actors for rectifying global harms.

Add international courts toThe Idea of Human Rightsand stir … on Beitz’The Idea of Human Rightsafter 10 years

“…A second area for further development concerns how utopian and aspirational an institutional theory of human rights can be, while remaining grounded in existing institutions (Ratner, 2018a). Must mechanisms of concern be effective within the backdrop of existing institutions and cultures, for there to be a human rightor can it make sense to argue that there may be a human right to and against new institutions and agents (Hessler, 2013)?…”