A Worldly Law in a Legal World
Abstract
Most of international legal thought and practice rests on a distinction between international law and the world to which international law applies. It is informed, in this sense, by what is called here a form of ontological dualism whereby the actuality, historicity, and materiality of international law is distinct from the actuality, historicity, and materiality of the world to which international law applies. This chapter questions the ontological dualism that dominates international law and shows that, notwithstanding this common ontological dualism, international law and the world to which it applies are better construed as having no distinct actuality, historicity, and materiality. It argues that international law exists nowhere else than in the world to which it applies and the world to which international law applies exists nowhere else than in international law.