Allott in Wonderland

Abstract

In his 1995 BISA lecture Philip Allott undertakes a ‘[reconciliation of] philosophy and international studies’ arguing that internationalists are the obvious leaders of the fifth historical moral enlightenment. Their role would be to envision worlds that transcend the prevailing ‘naturalistic’ view of international phenomena, which mires humankind in morally unacceptable states of affairs. A ‘naturalistic’ approach misconceives the proper role of academics for whom the sky is the limit. Inspired by Kant's three Critiques, Allott declares ‘The mind of pure reason is the mind in wonderland . . . We are all Mad Hatters conceptualizing together.’