Social Contract Theory and International Relations From Hobbes to Kant

This book provides a systematic analysis of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Kant with respect to international relations. These philosophers belong to the social contract tradition and are considered some of the most influential political theorists. Their ideas have played a role in the formation of national political constitutions and remain very influential both in understanding and legitimising the structure of societies around the world. This book is an innovative analysis of what these thinkers have claimed regarding the relationship between nation states, rather than contributing to the established scholarship on what they have said about individual political societies. Specifically, individual chapters examine war and peace, world governance, inequality, and terrorism.

Introduction.- The Social Contract of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Kant.- The State of Nature Analogy.- Justification for War.- Jus In Bello, Post-War Justice and Colonialism.- Preventing International Conflict: Saint-Pierre and Rousseau.- Terrorism.- Preventing International Conflict: Kant.- Global Inequality.

Stephen Chadwick was awarded a British Academy funded PhD in social and political philosophy at the University of Aberdeen in 1998 under the supervision of Dr Nigel Dower. After a period teaching moral and political philosophy at Aberdeen, he gained an MA in Social Work from the University of Hull and subsequently worked in the field of drug prevention.  On relocating to New Zealand in 2004 he returned to academic philosophy at Massey University. His areas of research include political philosophy, gender ideology, and aesthetics.  He is the co-author of two books on astrophotography and aesthetics, both published by Springer, and has edited a collection of essays on applied ethics for Massey University Press.