ASIL Studies in International Legal Theo The Nature of International Law (Paperback)

Jurisprudence has up until recently largely neglected international law as a subject of philosophizing. The Nature of International Law tries to offset against this deficiency by providing a comprehensive explanatory account of international law. It does so within an analytical tradition albeit within the one which departs from the nowadays dominant method of the metaphysically-driven conceptual analysis. Instead it adopts the prototype theory of concepts which is directed towards determining typical features constitutive of the nature of international law. The book s central finding is that those features are: normativity institutionalization coercive guaranteeing and justice-aptness. Since typical features are context sensitive their specificities at the international level are further elucidated. The book finally challenges the often raised claim that fragmentation is international law s unique feature by demonstrating that international institutional actors particularly adjudicative ones largely perceive themselves as officials of a unified legal order.