The Limits of Ethics in International Relations: Natural Law, Natural Rights, and Human Rights in Transition

432 Pages·2009·1.71 MB·English

by  David Boucher

THE LIMITS OF ETHICS IN INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
This page intentionally left blank
The Limits of Ethics in
International Relations
Natural Law, Natural Rights, and
Human Rights in Transition
DAVID BOUCHER
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp
OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship,
andeducationbypublishingworldwidein
Oxford NewYork
Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi
KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi
NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
Withofficesin
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress
intheUKandincertainothercountries
PublishedintheUnitedStates
byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork
©DavidBoucher2009
Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted
DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker)
Firstpublished2009
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,
withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,
orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate
reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction
outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,
OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove
Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover
andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Dataavailable
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2008943415
TypesetbySPIPublisherServices,Pondicherry,India
PrintedinGreatBritain
onacid-freepaperby
CPIAntonyRoweLtd.,Chippenham,Wiltshire
ISBN 978–0–19–920352–9
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Acknowledgements
ThisbookhastakenelevenyearstowriteandisthesequeltomyPoliticalTheories
of International Relations, elevating one of its themes, a universal moral order,
to further exploration and consideration, as it found expression in natural law,
naturalrights,andhumanrights.Theprincipalcontentionsarethatnaturallaw
and natural rights are constellations of ideas that are far more closely related
thanmostthinkerswanttoadmit,andthatnaturalrightsandhumanrightsare
far less closely related than is often contended. Natural rights, I contend, never
strayedasfarawayfromthereligiousfoundationalismascommentatorsmaintain.
ConceptuallytheBritishIdealistsplayacrucialroleinthetransitionfromnatural
rightstohumanrights.WhiletheBritishIdealistsdispensedwiththerationalist
elementinnaturalrights,theydidnotdispensewiththereligious.Rightsdevelop
overtime,butwithinthecontextofadivineunfoldingrationality.Humanrights
theories,forthemostpart,jettisonthedivineandofferfoundationlessuniversal
constraints on the activities of individuals domestically and internationally, and
withinandbetweenstates.Furthermore,thesesocalleduniversalrightsandduties
almostinvariablyturnouttobeconditional,anduponclosescrutinyendupbeing
‘special’rightsandprivilegesasmyexamplesofmulticulturalencounters,slavery
andracism,andwomen’srightsdemonstrate.
Over the last twenty-five years I have been working out these themes, at first
withonlyafaintandhazyglimmeroflight,graduallycomingtoseemoreclearly
asthepathtoenlightenmentwasilluminatedbyluminariesinthespecialistareas
of this study, such as Knud Haakonssen, a former colleague in Canberra, Brian
Tierney, Anthony Pagden, and Richard Tuck. While my own compass has taken
metoplacestheywouldnotwanttogo,Iamneverthelessindebtedtothemfor
pointingtheway.Intherealmoftheinterfacebetweeninternationalrelationsthe-
oryandpoliticaltheoryIhavebeeninfluencedbytheworkofsuchwritersasChris
Brown, Mervyn Frost, Andrew Linklater, Terry Nardin, Howard Williams, and
manyotherstoonumeroustomention.Ihavebeenfortunateinbeingsurrounded
by many specialists in political philosophy who have provided inspiration and
necessaryconversationontheway.IamindebtedtoAndrewVincent,CarolePate-
man,BruceHaddock,PeterSutch,PeriRoberts,RexMartin,andGraemeGarrard
for their intellectual insights and stimulation. As always I cannot over-estimate
the example and help of my teachers, in particular, the late W. H. Greenleaf,
Joseph V. Femia, and Peter Nicholson. I owe a special debt to Peter for making
British Idealism accessible to me, not an inconsiderable achievement, and for
beingsowonderfullygenerousinlettingmehavehiscopiesofPufendorf,Vattel,
andBurlamaqui.Hehasalwaysbeentremendouslysupportiveofmywork,evento
theextentofcastinghisdiscerningeyeovertheproofs.Iamverygratefultohim,
withtheusualprovisothattheerrorsthatremainareentirelymyresponsibility.
vi Acknowledgements
Over the years I have had the pleasure of supervising many gifted Ph.D. stu-
dents, some in the area that this book covers. Two in particular have also acted
as graduate assistants during periods when my administrative duties threatened
tooverwhelmme.IwouldliketothankWendyMartineauwhoworksinthearea
ofcross-culturalunderstandings,andwhohasgoneontobecomeanESRCpost-
doctoralfellowatBristol.CamillaBoisenhasdemonstratedtheefficacyofpost-
graduateskillstraining.Shehasunfailinglytrackeddownandobtainednumerous
items,checkedreferences,andreadthechapters.Herownworkontheemergence
of ideas of humanitarian intervention overlaps to some extent with mine, and I
havebenefittedfrombeingabletodiscusssomeofthethemesofthisbookwith
her over the last few years. I am also grateful for the help of the administrative
staff in the School of European Studies who are always unfailingly supportive.
InparticularGemmaBroadhurstandLisaBernihavedone muchtolightenthe
burdenofproducingendlessdraftsandversionsofchapters.
Richard Mullender was very kind when, at the invitation of Thom Brookes, I
presented a paper at Newcastle. Richard made some very useful suggestions for
linking my ideas on international law with the common law tradition. Thomas
PinkandKeesvanderPijlmadeusefulsuggestionswhenIpresentedmyargument
againstthesecularizationofthenaturalrightstraditionattheGermanHistorical
InstituteinLondon.TosomeextentJuliaStapletonwasthecatalystforthisproject
in inviting me to give the inaugural Alan Milne memorial lecture at Durham. I
have also benefitted from conversations with others who mine this field of the
politicaltheoryofinternationalrelations,inparticular,BeateJahn,NickRengger,
andGabriellaSlomp.
I have been very fortunate in obtaining support for my researches from the
ArtsandHumanitiesResearchCouncil(orBoardasitwasthen)andtheNuffield
Foundation.Leverhulmeofferedmeaoneyearfellowshipwhichhasenabledme
tobringthisprojecttocompletion.Iamgratefultoallthreebodies,butespecially
to Leverhulme for its forebearance and generosity. I am also grateful to Mark
Francisforinvitingmetotakeupafellowshipatthedepartmentofpoliticsand
theInstitutefortheStudyofEuropeatCanterburyUniversity,Christchurch,New
Zealand.ItwastherethatIhadthetimetoputmanyofmyideasinorder.Iam
alsoindebtedtomylong-timefriendIvanMolloyforinvitingmetogiveaseries
oflecturesattheUniversityoftheSunshineCoast,Queensland,whereIpresented
some of the arguments in this book for the first time as adjunct professor of
internationalrelations.
I am grateful to Oxford University Press for sticking with me all these years,
andtoDominicByattwhohasbeenhelpful,courteous,andpatientinseeingthis
projectthrough.
As usual the forbearance of my family is much appreciated. Once again I am
gratefultoClare,Lucy,andEmmafortheirsupportandencouragement.Frasier
andNiles,twoblackandwhiteshort-hairedfarmcats,tookafelineinterestinthe
projectbysleepingonthedeskorcurlingaroundthelaptopandpurringloudly.
I have published some of my conclusions in articles, and have drawn upon
some of the arguments here: ‘Tocqueville, Collingwood, history and extending
Acknowledgements vii
themoralcommunity’,BritishJournalofPoliticsandInternationalRelations,vol.2
(2000),326–51;‘BritishIdealismandtheHumanRightsCulture’,HistoryofEuro-
peanIdeas,vol.27(2001),pp.61–78.‘ResurrectingPufendorfandCapturingthe
WestphalianMoment’;ReviewofInternationalStudies,vol.27(2002),pp.557–77;
‘UnitingWhatRightPermitswithWhatInterestPrescribes:Rawls’sLawofPeoples
in Context’ in Rex Martin and David A. Reidy (eds.), Rawls’s Law of Peoples: A
RealisticUtopia(Oxford,Blackwell,2006),pp.19–37;‘ThinUniversalismandDis-
tributiveJustice’inBruceHaddock,PeriRoberts,andPeterSutch,eds.,Principles
andPoliticalOrder(London,Routledge,2006),pp.176–93.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Introduction 1
1. ClassicalNaturalLawandtheLawofNations:TheGreeks
andtheRomans 19
2. ChristianNaturalLaw:AUniversalMorality 43
3. NaturalLaw,theLawofNations,andtheTransitionto
NaturalRights 69
4. NaturalRightsandSocialExclusion:CulturalEncounters 101
5. NaturalRights:DescriptiveandPrescriptive 141
6. NaturalRightsandTheirCritics 167
7. SlaveryandRacisminNaturalLawandNaturalRights 187
8. NonsenseUponStilts?Tocqueville,Idealism,andthe
ExpansionoftheMoralCommunity 217
9. TheHumanRightsCultureandItsDiscontents 245
10. ModernConstitutiveTheoriesofHumanRights 285
11. HumanRightsandtheJuridicalRevolution 311
12. WomenandHumanRights 331
Conclusion 357
Bibliography 379
Index 409