‘Only in the Leap from the Lion's Head Will He Prove His Worth’: Natural Law and International Relations
| Author | Amanda Russell Beattie |
| DOI | 10.3366/jipt.2013.0042 |
| Date | 01 April 2013 |
| Published date | 01 April 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
‘ONLY IN THE LEAP FROM THE LION’S HEAD WILL HE
PROVE HIS WORTH’: NATURAL LAW AND
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
AMANDA RUSSELL BEATTIE
Abstract: This article argues the benefits of including a theological interpretation
of natural law morality within the normative discourses of international politics.
It challenges the assumption of a Grotian secular natural law arguing that
practical reason, in a Thomist interpretation, is better suited to the demands of
international political theory. It engages with themes of agency, practical reason,
and community in order to enhance the content of the post-territorial community
evidenced in ethical cosmopolitan debates. Likewise, it envisionssimultaneously
enhancing a rapprochement among cosmopolitan and communitarian discourses
of international politics facilitated through an institutional design guided by the
morality of natural law.
Keywords: International political thought, international politics, natural law,
practical reason
Nuclear Deterrence, Morality and Realism, published in 1987, represents the
combined attempt of John Finnis, Germain Grisez, and Joseph Boyle Jr. (the
New Natural Lawyers) to engage critically with the moral challenge of nuclear
deterrence by drawing on the morality of natural law. The novelty of this
collaborative project lies in the direct application of a theological tradition that at
one point in time was considered the handmaiden of politics, anthropology and
sociology, to the practices of international politics. The New Natural Lawyers
present an interpretation of natural law morality –the desire to do good and avoid
evil – which, it was hoped, would have broad based appeal within the discourses
and practices of international politics. To achieve this end they locate shared
key themes within natural law morality and the contemporary rights discourse
outlining an account of morality that is centered on the individual, capable
Journal of International Political Theory, 9(1) 2013, 22–42
DOI: 10.3366/jipt.2013.0042
© Edinburgh University Press 2013
www.euppublishing.com/jipt
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Natural Law and International Relations
of practical reason. In so doing, however, they subtly alter key facets of this
historical moral tradition. In particular, they reveal a reading of human liberty
and autonomy that is at odds with the teleology of the human spirit typically
associated with the morality of natural law. Likewise, their portrayal of the
community, itself traditionally associated with this teleological curiosity,reflects
instead the structures associated with contemporary notions of negative liberty.
Thus, a seemingly innovative engagement with the morality of natural law
instead falls prey to contemporary and secular interpretations of liberal politics.
That this seeming liberal interpretation of natural law morality would emerge
from a group of theorists who remain devoted to the writings of Thomas
Aquinas, himself the noted father of natural law, is unfortunate, but not wholly
surprising (see for example Boyle 1997, 1992a, 1992b; Finnis 1991, 1983, 1980;
Grisez 1983). The discipline of International Relations (IR) remains skeptical of
theological and religious assumptions proliferating in its structures owing to the
assumed relationships between religion and violent conflict. As Scott M. Thomas
has argued, the limited appeal of theological assumptions can be attributed to a
combination of forces, not simply the tendency towards violence. He reveals
how the secular interpretation of modernity, alongside the idea of a Westphalian
account of order, and the rise of positivism and materialism within the discourses
of international politics all have a role to play (1995). This however, does not
discount the influence of theological ideas in the wider history of ideas and
its influence on dialogues within IR as he goes on to note how Martin Wight,
in his scholarly writings, remains highly influenced by Christian assumptions
within the discourses of international theory (Thomas 2001). Contemporary IR
scholarship however, adopts a wary skepticism of theological influences on the
discourses and practices of international politics.
This article challenges the current state of affairs offering an account of natural
law morality to enhance the preexisting normative debates of international
politics. It challenges the assumption that natural law ought to be secularized
to have any value within these debates, by offering an overtly theological
interpretation of natural law morality. It draws on the original ideas of Thomas
Aquinas before delving into contemporary interpretations of his ideas in order to
engage with the debates of cosmopolitanism and its critics. This examination
sustains the claim throughout this piece that the morality of natural law
offers a positive contribution to international politics generally and locates a
particular niche for its ideas within the unfolding debates of IR theory, and
cosmopolitanism specifically. It draws on the absolute idea of goodness in order
to offer its own interpretation of being political, which appeals to a latent human
curiosity to engage morally, understood in a premodern sense as teleology. This
in turns locates an account of loving reasonableness that informs moral agency
and moral institutional design.
In the first section Thomas Aquinas’s assumptions of natural law are unpacked
building on the brief definition of natural law offered above.The challenge to this
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