Political Theory and International Relations
Revised Edition
Published on 21. July 1999
Book
Paperback/Softback
264 pages
978-0-691-00915-5 (ISBN)
Description
In this revised edition of his 1979 classic Political Theory and International Relations, Charles Beitz rejects two highly influential conceptions of international theory as empirically inaccurate and theoretically misleading. In one, international relations is a Hobbesian state of nature in which moral judgments are entirely inappropriate, and in the other, states are analogous to persons in domestic society in having rights of autonomy that insulate them from external moral assessment and political interference. Beitz postulates that a theory of international politics should include a revised principle of state autonomy based on the justice of a state's domestic institutions, and a principle of international distributive justice to establish a fair division of resources and wealth among persons situated in diverse national societies.
Reviews / Votes
"[Beitz] has succeeded in clarifying the agenda of moral debate concerning the relations of states and of their inhabitants."--Terry Nardin, American Political Science Review "Political Theory and International Relations is a fine piece of philosophical criticism and reconstruction that few established philosophers could have written... This is a first-rate book on an issue as fundamental as it is neglected."--Henry Shue, Ethics "This important book deals a deadly blow to the facile assumptions that support the widespread belief that moral judgment is fundamentally inapplicable or inappropriate in matters of foreign policy and international relations."--David V. Edwards, Social Science QuarterlyMore details
Edition
Revised Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
371 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-00915-5 (9780691009155)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2021
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€42.99
Available for download
Person
Charles R. Beitz is Professor of Government at Bowdoin College. His other books include Political Equality: An Essay in Democratic Theory and International Ethics: A Philosophy and Public Affairs Reader, which he coedited with Marshall Cohen (both books are available from Princeton).
Content
Preface vii Introduction 3 Part One. International Relations as a State of Nature 11 1. The Skepticism of the Realists 15 2. The Hobbesian Situation 27 3. International Relations as a State of Nature 35 4. The Basis of International Morality 50 5. From International Skepticism to the Morality of States 63 Part Two. The Autonomy of States 67 1 . State Autonomy and Individual Liberty 71 2. Nonintervention, Paternalism, and Neutrality 83 3. Self-determination 92 4. Eligibility, Boundaries, and Nationality 105 5. Economic Dependence 116 6. State Autonomy and Domestic Social justice 121 Part Three. International Distributive justice 125 1. Social Cooperation, Boundaries, and the Basis of justice 129 2. Entitlements to Natural Resources 136 3. Interdependence and Global Distributive justice 143 4. Contrasts between International and Domestic Society 154 5. The Rights of States 161 6. Applications to the Nonideal World 169 Conclusion 177 Afterword 185 Works Cited 221 Index 237