LFU:online

Students possess extended and in-depth knowledge of selected issues and theories of political philosophy and legal philosophy as well as the ability to relate these issues and theories to each other, to analyze them in the context of the current research discussion, to question them independently, to develop them further and to relate them to current social problems.

Starting from late scholastic thinking on natural law, approaches developed in the early modern period to lay the theoretical foundations of the ius gentium, the law of nations, and to define it normatively according to the most general principles of justice possible. From Hugo Grotius and Thomas Hobbes to Emer de Vattel and Immanuel Kant to Hans Kelsen and John Rawls, philosophical contributions to international law have shaped it in multiple and decisive ways. By examining selected contributions to international law theory and their historical contextualization, this lecture aims to shed light on current debates about the legal nature of international law, the (reform of the) United Nations, the prohibition of the use of force in international relations, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, as well as postcolonial critique of international law.

presentations and discussion

in written form

will be announced during lecture