Ethics, Diversity, and World Politics ─ Saving Pluralism From Itself?

Ethics, Diversity, and World Politics argues for the importance of the diversity of human ethical systems in world politics, defending the vitality of a 'pluralist' position in debates about how to ethically assess and respond to political challenges.

Rooted in the 'English School' tradition of international relations theory, the book offers the first fundamental reformulation of the 'traditional pluralism' that fails to offer a persuasive defence of the normative desirability of ethical diversity in human affairs, resulting in a pluralist ethic that is statist, conservative, and unable to engage effectively with contemporary world politics. The book develops an alternative account of 'revived pluralism', rooted in a defence of the normative desirability of ethical diversity that draws upon political philosophy, political theory, and sociology, to establish a far more rigorous methodological basis for a pluralist position, whilst also enabling assessment of the limits of defensible diversity.

John Williams, Professor of International Relations, Durham University

John Williams studied at the Universities of Hull and Warwick, and was a lecturer at Aberdeen University before joining Durham University in 2001. His research has focused on English school international relations theory, especially its normative dimension, on the ethics of territorial borders, and on the ethics of violence in international relations. He has published six authored and edited books and twenty papers and chapters in academic journals and collections. His work has appeared in leading journals such as the Review of International Studies and the European Journal of InternationalRelations.