Wording in International Law

25 Leiden Journal of International Law, 2012, p. 575-602

Amsterdam Law School Research Paper No. 2012-63

Amsterdam Center for International Law No. 2012-09

43 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2012 Last revised: 11 Jan 2015

See all articles by Jean d'Aspremont

Jean d'Aspremont

University of Manchester - School of Law; Sciences Po Law School

Date Written: May 31, 2012

Abstract

Since the demise of philosophical foundationalism and that of the Aristotelian idea of an inner meaning of words, the scholarship about international law is no longer perceived as a mining activity geared towards the extraction of pre-existing meaning. Rather, international legal scholarship is in a state of fierce competition for persuasiveness and semantic authority. This does not elevate persuasiveness into the determinant of legality, nor does it lead to a total rejection of the internal point of view. The configuration of that competition for naming is informed by the current structure of (and the membership to) the interpretative community of international law. In this competition for naming, words constitute semantic weaponry. Mention is made here of uses of words in international law to create textual economy, generate semantic instability, rough out and hone scholarly ideas, enhance textual aesthetics, yield empiricism, create strawmen and preserve the argumentative character of scholarly idea, gratify oneself, boost fame and careers, and intimidate peers. It is also argued that there is nothing to rein in the use of such semantic tactics in the interpretative community of international law, for paradigmatic revolution is meant to be permanent. It is only if international legal scholars were to lose their social identity that the competition for naming and the interpretative community of international law would vanish altogether.

Keywords: international law, international legal scholarship, interpretative community, legal science, paradigmatic revolution, production of knowledge, semantic instability, semantic persuasiveness, textual aesthetics, wordfare

JEL Classification: K33

Suggested Citation

d'Aspremont, Jean, Wording in International Law (May 31, 2012). 25 Leiden Journal of International Law, 2012, p. 575-602, Amsterdam Law School Research Paper No. 2012-63, Amsterdam Center for International Law No. 2012-09, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2071192

Jean D'Aspremont (Contact Author)

University of Manchester - School of Law ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/Jean.daspremont/

Sciences Po Law School ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.sciencespo.fr/ecole-de-droit/en/profile/daspremont-jean

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