Publisher Description

David Boucher uses the ideas of western philosophy's most significant thinkers to trace the history of political theory in international relations. He examines current conceptions, offering an alternative thematic interpretation of how the most significant thinkers in the Western tradition perceived relations between communities, nations, states, and the discovery of the new world. His organizing principle centres on the idea that the great philosophers weresearching for a criterion of state conduct associated with different theories of human nature and which were used for justificatory, appraisive, and injunctive purposes. The author asserts that greatthinkers from Thucydides to Marx formulated and applied these criteria to interpret the changing international system and concludes by showing how contemporary theories compare with and extend the themes addressed by their predecessors.

Author Biography

David Boucher was educated at the universities of Wales, London and Liverpool. He was a lecturer at the University of Wales, Cardiff, and a senior lecturer at La Trobe University, Melbourne, and the Australian National University, Canberra. He is currently a Reader in Political Theory and Government at the University of Wales, Swansea. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a Senior Fellow of the Collingwood Centre, University of Wales, Swansea, andhas held fellowships at Cardiff and the History of Ideas Unit, Australian National University. He was a Senior Associate of Pembroke College, Oxford in 1996 and a visiting fellow of New College,Oxford 1998. He is the chairman of the Trustees of the R.G. Collingwood Society and joint editor of the journal Colingwood Studies. He has published widely in the History of Thought in International Relations and has taught the subject for twelve years.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION1: The Character of the Philosophy of International Relations2: Empiricism, Universal Moral Order and Historical ReasonPART ONE: EMPIRICAL REALISM3: The Primacy of Interest: Classical Greece4: Thucydides' History5: Machiavelli, Human Nature and the Exemplar of Rome6: The Priority of the Secular: The Medieval Inheritance and Machiavelli's Subordination of Ethics to Politics7: Inter-Community and International Relations in HobbesPART TWO: UNIVERSAL MORAL ORDER8: The Priority of Law and Morality: the Greeks and Stoics9: Constraining the Causes and Conduct of War: Aquinas, Vitoria, Gentili and Grotius10: Pufendorf and the Peron of the State11: International and Cosmopolitan SocietiesPART THREE: HISTORICAL REASON12: Redemption through Independence: Rousseau13: Edmund Burke and Historical Reason14: Hegel's Theory of International Relations15: Marx and the Capitalist World System16: Identity, Human Rights and the Extensions of the Moral Community: the Political Theory of International Relations in the Twentieth CenturyBibliographyIndex

Review

'...illuminating and provocative guide to the classics' Ethics and International Affairs`What is beyond doubt is that this is a deeply impressive work of scholarship. It stands alone - there are other books that provide short, snappy accounts of the various writers Boucher discusses, and a small number of works that discuss in detail one or two of his subjects, but there is no other history of international thought that comes even close to this in terms of level of sophistication or scope. It is a remarkable achievement.' Professor Chris Brown,London School of Economics, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Apr 2000.

Long Description

David Boucher uses the ideas of western philosophy's most significant thinkers to trace the history of political theory in international relations. He examines current conceptions, offering an alternative thematic interpretation of how the most significant thinkers in the Western tradition perceived relations between communities, nations, states, and the discovery of the new world. His organizing principle centres on the idea that the great philosophers were
searching for a criterion of state conduct associated with different theories of human nature and which were used for justificatory, appraisive, and injunctive purposes. The author asserts that great thinkers from Thucydides to Marx formulated and applied these criteria to interpret the changing
international system and concludes by showing how contemporary theories compare with and extend the themes addressed by their predecessors.

Review Text

'...illuminating and provocative guide to the classics' Ethics and International Affairs
`What is beyond doubt is that this is a deeply impressive work of scholarship. It stands alone - there are other books that provide short, snappy accounts of the various writers Boucher discusses, and a small number of works that discuss in detail one or two of his subjects, but there is no other history of international thought that comes even close to this in terms of level of sophistication or scope. It is a remarkable achievement.' Professor Chris Brown,
London School of Economics, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Apr 2000.

Review Quote

'What is beyond doubt is that this is a deeply impressive work of scholarship. It stands alone - there are other books that provide short, snappy accounts of the various writers Boucher discusses, and a small number of works that discuss in detail one or two of his subjects, but there is noother history of international thought that comes even close to this in terms of level of sophistication or scope. It is a remarkable achievement.' Professor Chris Brown, London School of Economics, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Apr 2000.

Promotional "Headline"

INTRODUCTION 1. The Character of the Philosophy of International Relations 2. Empiricism, Universal Moral Order and Historical Reason PART ONE: EMPIRICAL REASON 3. The Primacy of Interest: Classical Greece 4. Thucydides' History 5. Machiavelli, Human Nature and the Exemplar of Rome 6. The Priority of the Secular: The Medieval Inheritance and Machiavelli's Subordination of Ethics to Politics 7. Inter-Community and International Relations in Hobbes PART TWO: UNIVERSAL MORAL ORDER 8. The Priority of Law and Morality: the Greeks and Stoics 9. Constraining the Causes and Conduct of War: Aquinas, Vitoria, Gentili and Grotius 10. Pufendorf and the Peron of the State 11. International and Cosmopolitan Societies PART THREE: HISTORICAL REASON 12. Redemption through Independence: Rousseau 13. Edmund Burke and Historical Reason 14. Hegel's Theory of International Relations 15. Marx and the Capitalist World System 16. Identity, Human Rights and the Extensions of the Moral Community: the Political Theory of International Relations in the Twentieth Century Bibliography Index

Feature

Offers new thematic approach to the subject, without sacrificing historical depth
Relevant to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate studies

Details