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The Universal Grammar of the Laws of War: A Theory of Moral Discourse and International Norms

Traven, David J.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1355489166

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Political Science.
In contemporary political science, many international relations scholars presume that normative restrictions on military violence in world politics are an outgrowth of Western liberal modernity. Indeed, humanitarian norms such as the Geneva Conventions are comparatively recent in world politics, and many political scientists claim that they are a manifestation of new norms of appropriateness in international society. Drawing on historical evidence which suggests that political actors in Ancient China, the early Islamic empire, early medieval Europe, and modern international society all endorsed similar normative ideas for protecting the victims of war, I claim that humanitarian protection norms are fairly common in the history of advanced civilizations, more common than most political scientists have recognized. For political science, these findings raise an important puzzle: how do we explain why similar moral ideas emerge in very different cultural and material contexts? Extant theories of international norms are not well suited to answer this question because they assume that the initial development of norms is a random process that depends upon human agency, historical contingencies, and the existing material and ideational structure of international society. But if similar norms of war tend to emerge in different social contexts, then the initial factors that prompt the development of international norms may not be all that random after all. To explain how similar norms emerge in dissimilar material and cultural contexts, I argue that the laws of war are rooted in a universal moral psychology, or what some theorists call a “universal grammar” of moral discourse. Importantly, this argument implies that the development of modern humanitarian laws and human rights norms was in some sense inevitable: although history could have turned out differently, people tend to have strong psychological reactions to the pain and suffering of war, and these reactions lead them to create more humane international institutions when the opportunities for social change arise.
Alexander Wendt (Committee Chair)
Michael Neblo (Committee Member)
Jennifer Mitzen (Committee Member)
312 p.
Political Science

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Citations

  • Traven, D. J. (2013). The Universal Grammar of the Laws of War: A Theory of Moral Discourse and International Norms [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1355489166

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Traven, David. The Universal Grammar of the Laws of War: A Theory of Moral Discourse and International Norms. 2013. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1355489166.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Traven, David. "The Universal Grammar of the Laws of War: A Theory of Moral Discourse and International Norms." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1355489166

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.