Blackwell Reference Online

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Section editor: Amy E. Eckert, Metropolitan State College of Denver Ethics and Sovereignty Global Democracy International Economic Institutions and Global Justice International Ethics within the International Social Contract Utilitarianism and International Ethics Amy E. Eckert, Metropolitan State College of Denver International ethics as a subfield is concerned with the justice of the international system and its “basic structure,” which is to say its institutional arrangements and the systematic interactions among states and other actors. This intellectual project involves two distinct components: the development of moral traditions suitable for application to these facets of the international system and the actual application of the normative approaches that derive from these traditions to the substantive problems of international relations. International ethics is a form of moral inquiry, but it is at the same time distinct from morality, which is an inherently personal and individual project. By contrast, international ethics involves the development and application of intersubjective ethical traditions, many of which have evolved over the course of centuries. Despite this long history, the relationship between the subfields of international ethics and international studies has sometimes been a tenuous one. The treatment of international ethics by theories ... log in or subscribe to read full text