Philosophising on international law: Jovanović’s conception of normativity and rationality

Abstract

In his book The Philosophy of International Law, Jovanovic advances the view that an inquiry into the reasons regarding why states would consider international norms as binding norms would be part of a sociology of law, and we can infer that, for him, it is a part of an inquiry into an empirical order. I advance two criticisms of one aspect of Jovanovic’s conclusion on empiricism: a) the idea that there is a plurality of reasons for actions that constitute a wide spectrum, from self-interested reasons to moral reasons and, b) that we can understand the plurality of reasons for actions of either states or citizens through empirical research. I argue that these positions reflect a particular and, in my view, problematic view of agency.