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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

Print Price: $118.95

Format:
Hardback
304 pp.
6.125" x 9.25"

ISBN-13:
9780197519103

Publication date:
August 2021

Imprint: OUP US


The Public Uses of Coercion and Force

From Constitutionalism to War

Ester Herlin-Karnell and Enzo Rossi

The Kantian project of achieving perpetual peace among states seems (at best) an unfulfilled hope. Modern states' authority claims and their exercise of power and sovereignty span a spectrum: from the most stringently and explicitly codified - the constitutional level - to the most fluid and turbulent - acts of war. The Public Uses of Coercion and Force investigates both these individual extremes and also their relationship. Using Arthur Ripstein's recent work Kant and the Law of War as a focal point, this book explores this connection through the lens of the (just) war theory and its relationship to the law.

The Public Uses of Coercion and Force asks many key questions: what, if any, are the normatively salient differences between states' internal coercion and the external use of force? Is it possible to isolate the constitutional level from other aspects of the state's coercive reach? How could that be done while also guaranteeing a robust conception of human rights and adherence to the rule of law? With individual replies by Ripstein to chapters, this book will be of interest to students and academics of constitutional law, justice, philosophy of law, criminal law theory, and political science.

Readership : Academics, students taking advanced courses, anyone interested in the topic.

Reviews

  • "This important collection of essays offers innovative and constructive analyses of some of the most fundamental aspects of state power. With contributions from leading moral, political and legal philosophers on topics ranging from territorial rights, refugees, and the resort to and conduct of war, its breadth, originality and quality commend it to all those with interests in these key components of political power."

    --Helen Frowe, Professor of Practical Philosophy and Knut and Alice Wallenberg Scholar, Department of Philosophy, Stockholm University, Sweden

  • "In 2021, Arthur Ripstein, arguably the most influential contemporary interpreter and exponent of Kant's political and legal theories, is publishing two major books that explicate, develop, and explore the practical implications of Kant's views on the morality and law of war. The essays in The Public Uses of Coercion and Force, written by leading moral, political, and legal theorists, analyze the arguments of both Kant and Ripstein with exemplary insight and rigour. Their arguments are illuminating not just for Kant scholars but for anyone seeking an enhanced understanding of the morality and law of war."

    --Jeff McMahan, White's Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Oxford, UK

  • "Contemporary ethics of war focuses invariably on the divide between Walzarian Just War Theory and its revisionist alternative. This superb collection boldly breaks through the overdone 'traditionalist v. revisionists' theme, offering a fresh look at the morality and legality of warfare from a Kantian perspective. Celebrating Arthur Ripstein's Kant and the Law of War, authors engage prominent scholars of law, moral philosophy and politics to debate the intricate relationship between states' internal and external use of force. This first-rate volume of original essays is highly recommended-reading for anyone concerned with these issues in war and peace."

    --Tamar Meisels, Professor of Political Theory, Tel-Aviv University, Israel

Part 1

Chapter 1: Introduction by the editors

Chapter 2: Yitzakh Benbaji, "A Semi-Kantian Just War Theory"

Chapter 3: Rainer Forst, "Might and Right: Ripstein, Kant and the Paradox of Peace"

Chapter 4: Thomas Mertens, "Reading Kant's Rechtslehre; Some observations on Ripstein's Kant and the Law of War"

Chapter 5: Anna Stilz, "The Moral Basis of State Independence"

Chapter 6: Peter Niesen, "Cosmopolitan Right: From Grotius to Ripstein to Kant"

Chapter 7: Alice Pinheiro Walla, "Three Models of Territory. Arthur Ripstein on Territorial Rights"

Chapter 8: Alon Harel, "A Kantian Defense of Remedial Wars"

Chapter 9: Massimo Renzo, "National Defence and the Value of Independence"

Part 2


Chapter 10: Katrin Flikschuh, "Exactitude and Indemonstrability in Kant's Doctrine of Right"

Chapter 11: Johan Oltsthoorn, "Conceptualizing private rights of enforcement in revisionist just war theory: the case of human rights to subsistence"

Chapter 12: Aravind Ganesh "The relationship between International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law from the perspective of Kant"

Chapter 13: Malcolm Thornburn "Kant and the Criminal Law of War"

Chapter 14: Ester Herlin-Karnell, "EU solidarity as collective self-defence? Constitutionalism and the public uses of coercion and force"

Chapter 15: Bertjan Wolthuis & Luigi Corrias, "Europe's Cosmopolitan Constitution. A Kantian reading of the EU internal market and the refugee crisis"

Part 3

Chapter 16: Replies and closing commentary by Arthur Ripstein

There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.

Ester Herlin-Karnell is Professor of EU law and EU criminal law at the University of Gothenburg, School of Law, Sweden. She was previously University Research Chair in EU Constitutional Law and Justice at the VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Enzo Rossi is Associate Professor of political science at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and co-editor of the European Journal of Political Theory.

Making Sense - Margot Northey
The Oxford Handbook of Ethics of War - Edited by Seth Lazar and Helen Frowe
War By Agreement - Yitzhak Benbaji and Daniel Statman

Special Features

  • Provides a new platform for understanding the law of war through a Kantian prism by combining theories of law, philosophy, and constitutionalism scholarship.
  • Investigates the relationship between national and transnational constitutionalism and acts of war.
  • Features chapter contributions from leading political theorists, philosophers, and legal scholars who critically reflect on the book's themes, with reference to Ripstein's interpretation of Kant.