The hidden theology of international legal positivism

Rasulov, A. (2021) The hidden theology of international legal positivism. In: Slotte, P. and Haskell, J. D. (eds.) Christianity and International Law: an Introduction. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, pp. 415-460. ISBN 9781108474559 (doi: 10.1017/9781108565646.019)

Abstract

This chapter is a study in the critical deconstruction of one of the most popular theoretical paradigms in modern international law and its basic ideological impact on international law as a discipline. The paradigm in question is voluntarist positivism, and the general thrust of its ideological impact on the discipline of international law, I am going to argue, has been to encourage within it the rise and spread of what one might call a theoretical culture of bad faith – a mix of false consciousness, self-censorship, and a “crooked attitude towards truth and knowledge”– particularly, in what concerns international law’s relationship with natural law and Christian theology. The last two sentences use a lot of notoriously ambivalent concepts. For the prevention of doubt, let me explain briefly how I understand them in these pages.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Rasulov, Professor Akbar
• Authors: Rasulov, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISBN: 9781108474559
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 Pamela Slotte and John Haskell
• First Published: First published in Christianity and International Law: an Introduction: 415-460
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy