International Theory beyond the Three Traditions: A Student’s Conversation with Martin Wight, in Richard Ned Lebow, Peer Schouten and Hidemi Suganami (eds.), The Return of the Theorists (Palgrave, 2016) (original) (raw)

Rival Traditions of Natural Law: Martin Wight and the Theory of International Society

Natural law is integral to Martin Wight’s conception of international society. It is natural law that grounds the common values, the conditions of cooperation and mutual assistance, and most important of all, the sense of common obligation, which sets international society apart from the precarious, competitive anarchy that is the world of (political) realism. Natural law also holds out an alternative to the revolutionary claims of human solidarity that Wight feared would rend the fabric of the states-system. This article interrogates rival traditions of natural law, implicit in Wight’s rationalist tradition, which disrupts the coherence of ‘three traditions’ framework. In doing so, it calls into question Wight’s hope that natural law could provide the basis of a post-Christian theory of international society. It concludes by arguing that Wight identified the right question: how might international society be grounded in a plural world? The cogency of his question stands, and yet it still begs an answer.

“Internationalism in Philosophy: Models, Motives, and Problems”

In analyzing the concept and practice of internationalism in philosophy, this paper first explores three models of internationalism: the universalism of reason, an international master-language for common inquiry, an international multicultural dialogue. Assessing the relative merits and risks of each approach, the paper then examines some of the ulterior motives and practical problems that shape and often distort the international circulation of philosophical thought.