Philosophy of International Law

A fundamental challenge to the foundations of the discipline of international law.This book offers an internal critique of the discipline of international law while showing the necessary place for philosophy within it. By reintroducing philosophy into the heart of the study of international law, Anthony Carty explains how traditional philosophy has always been an integral part of the discipline. However, this philosophy has been driven out by legal positivism, which has, in turn become a pure technique of law. He explores the extent of the disintegration and confusion in the discipline and offers various ways of renewing philosophical practice. The volume covers a range of approaches— post-structuralism, neo-Marxist geopolitics, social-democratic constitutional theory, and existential phenomenology—encouraging the reader to think fresh about how to bring or find order in contemporary international society. Key features: *A broad survey of possible philosophical approaches to international law*A fundamental critique of the basic techniques of the international lawyer*Case studies of colonial style interventions, the problem of American empire and a vision of the shape of post-imperial, postcolonial world society.