Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 The place of normative theory in international relations
- 2 Sceptical and realist arguments against normative theory in international relations: a critical appraisal
- 3 Normative issues in international relations: the domain of discourse and the method of argument
- 4 Towards the construction of a normative theory of international relations
- 5 Reconciling rights and sovereignty: the constitutive theory of individuality
- 6 The justification of unconventional violence in international relations: a hard case for normative theory
- 7 Who gets what state where? The Bosnian conflict
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- CAMBRIDGE STUIDES IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Conclusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 The place of normative theory in international relations
- 2 Sceptical and realist arguments against normative theory in international relations: a critical appraisal
- 3 Normative issues in international relations: the domain of discourse and the method of argument
- 4 Towards the construction of a normative theory of international relations
- 5 Reconciling rights and sovereignty: the constitutive theory of individuality
- 6 The justification of unconventional violence in international relations: a hard case for normative theory
- 7 Who gets what state where? The Bosnian conflict
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- CAMBRIDGE STUIDES IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Summary
I have tried to do two things in this book. First, I have sought to examine the reasons why ethics is accorded such a marginal place within the discipline of international relations and to show that these reasons are not good ones. Second, I have put forward a substantive normative theory which I have dubbed constitutive theory. In seeking to achieve this latter objective I followed a model of argument first set out by Ronald Dworkin in the context of legal reasoning. This model of argument starts from the settled norms within a given domain of discourse and seeks, on the basis of these, to construct a background theory which will enable us to find solutions to hard cases. I started with a list of what most actors in international relations accept as settled norms and then sought to construct a background theory which would enable us to achieve a coherence between the different items on the list of settled goods. In the course of this attempt it was found that the following did not suffice as background theories: order-based theories, utilitarian theories and rights-based contract theories. The best background theory which emerged was a secularized Hegelian approach which I have called the constitutive theory of individuality.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Ethics in International RelationsA Constitutive Theory, pp. 212 - 213Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996