Constructing a Genuine Realistic Utopia

John Rawls's The Law of Peoples adopts a"people-centric" approach to international ethics.Many liberal theorists find his account too orientedto the status quo; they prefer a more cosmopolitan,egalitarian approach to international ethics. In thisbook Hsuan-Hsiang Lin offers a theoretical defensefor Rawls's approach via expounding the key ideas ofRawls's political constructivism, includingreasonableness, justification, and public reason. Onthe other hand, Lin qualifies his defense by addingtwo minor revisions to Rawls's framework. Lin arguesthat Rawls's taxonomy of peoples runs against hisdoctrine of the equality of peoples and Rawls'sconception of toleration smacks of paternalism. Linsuggests that the first problem can be fixed byredrawing the line between ideal and nonideal theoryin accordance with Seyla Benhabib's distinctionbetween the standpoint of the generalized other andthe standpoint of the concrete other, and the secondproblem by incorporating a Habermasian dialogicalapproach into Rawls's framework. Students andscholars of international ethics, internationalrelations, and political philosophy will beinterested in this book.

Autorentext

Hsuan-Hsiang Lin, PhD: Studied International Relations and Political Theory at University of Denver. Assistant Professor at Fo Guang University, Taiwan. Research Interests: Ethics of International Relations, International Political Theory.

Klappentext
John Rawls's The Law of Peoples adopts a "people-centric" approach to international ethics. Many liberal theorists find his account too oriented to the status quo; they prefer a more cosmopolitan, egalitarian approach to international ethics. In this book Hsuan-Hsiang Lin offers a theoretical defense for Rawls's approach via expounding the key ideas of Rawls's political constructivism, including reasonableness, justification, and public reason. On the other hand, Lin qualifies his defense by adding two minor revisions to Rawls's framework. Lin argues that Rawls's taxonomy of peoples runs against his doctrine of the equality of peoples and Rawls's conception of toleration smacks of paternalism. Lin suggests that the first problem can be fixed by redrawing the line between ideal and nonideal theory in accordance with Seyla Benhabib's distinction between the standpoint of the generalized other and the standpoint of the concrete other, and the second problem by incorporating a Habermasian dialogical approach into Rawls's framework. Students and scholars of international ethics, international relations, and political philosophy will be interested in this book.