The Politics of International Political Theory : Reflections on the Works of Chris Brown

This book assesses the impact of the work of Chris Brown in the field of International Political Theory. The volume engages with general issues of IPT as well as basic issues such as the use and role of practical reasoning and presents a nuanced understanding about issues regarding the legitimacy of war and violence. It explores questions that pertain to human rights, morality, and ethics, and generally an outlook for devising a 'better' world. The project is ideal for audiences with interest in International Relations, Ethics and Morality Studies and International Political Theory. Mathias Albert is Professor of Political Science at Bielefeld University, Germany. He is author of Ordnung und Regieren in der Weltgesellschaft(2018) and A Theory of World Politics (2016). Anthony F. Lang Jr. is Professor of International Political Theory in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, UK.-- Provided by publisher Acknowledgements 5 Contents 6 Notes on Contributors 8 Chapter 1: Introduction: The Politics of International Political Theory 11 1 Introduction 11 2 Intellectual Biography 13 3 Framing and Reframing IPT 15 4 Liberalism and Brown 22 5 Political Judgement and Pluralism 24 References 26 Part I: Judgement, Reason, and Humanity 28 Chapter 2: Dogmatic Anti-dogmatism: Learning from Chris Brown 29 1 Introduction 29 2 Facts and Values 32 3 Science and One World Realism 34 4 Rortyian Pragmatism 39 5 Conclusion 42 References 43 Chapter 3: The Politics of Judgement in International Political Theory 46 1 Introduction 46 2 Doing International Political Theory 47 3 The Meaning and Scope of Political Judgement 54 4 Conclusion 59 References 60 Chapter 4: Practical Judgement: Inconsistent—Or Incoherent? 61 1 Introduction 61 2 Practical Judgement in Brown’s Work 62 3 What Is Required of Practical Judgement? 66 4 Solving Problems or Guiding Actions? 70 5 Conclusion 72 References 73 Chapter 5: Humanity in International Political Theory: Chris Brown and the Principles, Politics and Practice of Humanitarianism 75 1 Introduction 75 2 Neutrality, Independence and Politics 76 3 Impartiality, Selectivity and Practical Judgement 81 4 Tragedy and Humanity 85 5 Conclusion 87 References 88 Part II: War and Violence, Human Rights and Global Institutions 91 Chapter 6: Between Sovereign Judgment and the International Rule of Law: The Protection of People from Mass Atrocities 92 1 Introduction1 92 2 Setting the Stage: The Post-Cold War Gap Between the Need to Act and the Means of Action in the UN 96 3 Failing to Fill the Gap: R2P as Anti-politics 101 4 Working on the Gap: De-politicization as Part of Politics 105 5 Reducing the Gap: Sticking with the Just War Tradition? 107 6 Sovereign Judgment and the International Rule of Law: Moving Ahead in Circles? 110 7 Conclusion 114 References 115 Chapter 7: War and the ‘Brotherhood of Hooliganism’ 121 1 Introduction 121 2 IPT in the World 122 3 ‘Applied Political Philosophy’ 124 4 Our Peculiar Institution 129 5 The Tragedy of Just War 134 6 International Society and the ‘Sanity of Madness’ 138 References 141 Chapter 8: Emotions and Political Limitations: Working Through the Broken Middle with Chris Brown 145 1 Introduction 145 2 Establishing Brown’s Middle Ground 147 3 The Curious Case of Torture4: An Illustration 151 4 The Broken Middle 156 5 Conclusion 158 References 160 Chapter 9: The Politics of Human Rights 163 1 Introduction 163 2 Human Nature and Human Rights: A Dilemma 164 3 Theories of Human Rights and Appropriate Determinacy About Human Nature 166 4 A Practice Theory of Human Rights 171 5 Sovereignty, Human Rights and Global Power 174 6 Conclusion 181 References 182 Chapter 10: The Ethics of Brexit 184 1 Introduction 184 2 The Ethics of Brexit 185 3 Resolving the Conflict Between States’ Rights and Individual Rights 193 4 The EU as an Ethical Solution to a Fundamental Tension in Contemporary World Politics 196 5 Conclusion 200 References 201 Chapter 11: Cultural Incomprehension and the Tragic Sense of Life 202 1 Introduction 202 2 The Requirement 206 3 Justice and Tragedy 209 4 Conclusion 217 References 218 Chapter 12: Chris Brown’s Liberal Conservatism, the Process of Moral Learning and Global Institutional Transformations 221 1 Introduction 221 2 Brown’s State Moralism 223 3 Moving Beyond Groundless Utopianism—Or Staying in the Same Discourse? 226 4 Ethics and Politics as Immanent Critique and as Trans-Communal Judgements 229 5 The Missing Part: Collective Learning and Human Cultural Evolution 233 6 Conclusions 236 References 240 Part III: Coda 243 Chapter 13: In Response 244 References 256 Chapter 14: Postscriptum: Chris Brown, and International Political Theory Anywhere Else but in Bayreuth 257 1 The Challenges of ‘Festschrift’-writing 257 2 Chris Brown Writings and Non-writings 258 3 Formal Structures: The ‘Ring’ and Brown’s ‘Werke’ 260 References 263 Index 264 Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Introduction: The Politics of International Political Theory (Anthony F. Lang Jr., Mathias Albert)....Pages 1-17 Front Matter ....Pages 19-19 Dogmatic Anti-dogmatism: Learning from Chris Brown (Colin Wight)....Pages 21-37 The Politics of Judgement in International Political Theory (Kimberly Hutchings)....Pages 39-53 Practical Judgement: Inconsistent—Or Incoherent? (Nicholas Rengger)....Pages 55-68 Humanity in International Political Theory: Chris Brown and the Principles, Politics and Practice of Humanitarianism (Henry Radice)....Pages 69-84 Front Matter ....Pages 85-85 Between Sovereign Judgment and the International Rule of Law: The Protection of People from Mass Atrocities (Lothar Brock)....Pages 87-115 War and the ‘Brotherhood of Hooliganism’ (Ken Booth)....Pages 117-140 Emotions and Political Limitations: Working Through the Broken Middle with Chris Brown (Brent J. Steele)....Pages 141-158 The Politics of Human Rights (David Owen)....Pages 159-179 The Ethics of Brexit (Mervyn Frost)....Pages 181-198 Cultural Incomprehension and the Tragic Sense of Life (David Boucher)....Pages 199-217 Chris Brown’s Liberal Conservatism, the Process of Moral Learning and Global Institutional Transformations (Heikki Patomäki)....Pages 219-240 Front Matter ....Pages 241-241 In Response (Chris Brown)....Pages 243-255 Postscriptum: Chris Brown, and International Political Theory Anywhere Else but in Bayreuth (Mathias Albert, Anthony F. Lang Jr.)....Pages 257-263 Back Matter ....Pages 265-268