Introduction to Symposium on Ethical Dimensions of International Institutions

The three papers in this symposium were initially presented at a conference on the ethical dimensions of international institutions in New Orleans in February 27-28, 2009, which was sponsored by Politics, Philosophy and Economics with the generous help of the Murphy Institute of Political Economy at Tulane University. The conference brought together leading thinkers in political philosophy, international relations and political theory to engage in an empirically informed discussion of some basic ethical issues regarding international institutions. These papers represent some of the most cutting edge work on ethically relevant features of international institutions. The first two papers are on the legitimacy of international institutions while the third is concerned with the normative implications of the structure of the international institutions. The paper by Allen Buchanan ‘‘Reciprocal Legitimation: Reframing The Problem Of International Legitimacy,’’ addresses the normative basis of legitimacy, or the basis of the reasons for obeying the directives of international institutions. It continues his path-breaking work analyzing the relationships between the legitimacy of states and their governments and the legitimacy of international institutions. In contrast to the traditional view associated with international law, which asserts that the legitimacy of international institutions derives from the consent of states, he argues that the relationship between the legitimacy of international institutions and the legitimacy of states and their governments is one of mutual dependence. The paper mounts a sophisticated, empirically informed philosophical defense of this view. The paper by Miles Kahler, ‘‘Legitimacy, Humanitarian Intervention, And International Institutions,’’ addresses the single most difficult issue of legitimacy with regard to international law and institutions. His paper offers a careful political analysis of the development of international law on humanitarian intervention from the nineteenth century

Engineering ethics · Environmental ethics · Political science · Sociology · Engineering · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Philosophy

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