Morality and Responsibility of Rulers

Abstract

A comparative study of the history of ideas on rule of law. This book examines Eastern and Western traditions to reveal ‘rule of law as justice’ conceptions with differ from the positivist conceptions of the liberal internationalist rule of law today. From an examination of Northern Humanism and natural law it considers whether comparable concepts existed in Chinese thought of the same era. It focuses on the possibilities of traditional Chinese and European ethical thinking in the context of current world affairs, and examines the obstacles to integration of these concepts in modern day international law.