4 - Ronald Dworkin: Interpretivism and International Law

Summary

This chapter offers an explication and partial defense of Ronald Dworkin’s philosophy of international law.It begins with an overview of Dworkin’s objections to legal positivism and the account of law Dworkin offers in its place, commonly referred to as (legal) interpretivism.A reconstruction of Dworkin’s analysis of international law follows, which in addition to being of interest in its own right usefully illustrates Dworkin’s interpretivist account of law and his reasons for thinking it superior to the one defended by legal positivists.The chapter concludes with rebuttals to a series of objections that have been raised to Dworkin’s analysis of international law.The defense is only partial, however, since it presumes Dworkin’s interpretivist account of law.