New book: "The Philosophy of International Law"

The Philosophy of International Law

Ed. by Samantha Besson and John Tasioulas

(Oxford University Press, April 2010)

632 pp.



Description

International law has recently emerged as the subject-matter of an exciting new field of philosophical investigation. "The Philosophy of International Law" contains 29 cutting-edge essays by leading philosophers and international lawyers, all published here in English for the first time, that address the central philosophical questions about international law. The volume's overarching theme is the moral and political values that should guide the assessment and development of international law and institutions. Some of the essays tackle general topics such as the sources and legitimacy of international law, the nature of international legal adjudication, whether international law can or should aspire to be 'democratic', and the significance of state sovereignty. The other contributions address philosophical problems arising in specific domains of international law, such as human rights law, international economic law, international criminal law, international environmental law, and the laws of war. This volume is the most up-to-date and comprehensive treatment of the philosophy of international law in existence. It is also distinguished by its 'dialogical' methodology: there are two essays on each topic, with the second author engaging with the arguments of the first.

Contents

Samantha Besson and John Tasioulas: Introduction [preview]

History of the Philosophy of International Law
1. Benedict Kingsbury and Benjamin Straumann: State of Nature versus Commercial Sociability as the Basis of International Law
2. Amanda Perreau-Saussine: Immanuel Kant on International Law [paper]

Legitimacy of International Law
3. Allen Buchanan: The Legitimacy of International Law
4. John Tasioulas: The Legitimacy of International Law

International Democracy
5. Thomas Christiano: Democratic Legitimacy and International Institutions
6. Philip Pettit: Legitimate International Institutions: A Neo-Republican Perspective [paper]

Sources of International Law
7. Samantha Besson: Theorizing the Sources of International Law
8. David Lefkowitz: The Sources of International Law: Some Philosophical Reflections

International Adjudication
9. Andreas Paulus: International Adjudication
10. Donald Regan: International Adjudication: A Response to Paulus

Sovereignty
11. Timothy Endicott: The Logic of Freedom and Power
12. Jean Cohen: Sovereignty in the Context of Globalization

International Responsibility
13. James Crawford and Jeremy Watkins: International Responsibility
14. Liam Murphy: International Responsibility

Human Rights
15. Joseph Raz: Human Rights without Foundations [paper]
16. James Griffin: Human Rights and the Autonomy of International Law
17. John Skorupski: Human Rights

Self-Determination and Minority Rights
18. Will Kymlicka: Minority Rights in Political Philosophy and International Law
19. Jeremy Waldron: Two Conception of Self Determination

International Economic Law
20. Thomas Pogge: The Role of International Law in Reproducing Massive Poverty
21. Robert Howse and Ruti Teitel: Global Justice, Poverty and the International Economic Order

International Environmental Law
22. James Nickel and Daniel Magraw: Philosophical Issues in International Environmental Law
23. Roger Crisp: Ethics and International Environmental Law

Laws of War
24. Jeff McMahan: The Laws of War
25. Henry Shue: Laws of War

Humanitarian Intervention
26. Thomas Franck: Humanitarian Intervention
27. Danilo Zolo: Humanitarian Militarism?

International Criminal Law
28. David Luban: Fairness to Rightness [paper]
29. Antony Duff: Authority and Responsibility in International Criminal Law

Samantha Besson is Professor of Public International Law and European Law at the University of Fribourg.

John Tasioulas is a Reader in Moral and Legal Philosophy at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.