Abstract

This chapter discusses how the radical social ontology inaugurated by the late Dutch, Christian, philosopher, Herman Dooyeweerd—hitherto largely unexplored for this purpose—may help illuminate contemporary debates on notions of an “international community” in relation to the international legal order.In Dooyeweerd’s social ontology, extrapolated into a legal one, various associational spheres with their respective “sphere sovereignty” or differentiated responsibilities are themselves bearers of rights, thus inviting a renewed discussion on the philosophical foundations of international legal personality as well as of the sources of international law. Here, a state-centric international law is avoided, although states play an indispensable role in upholding public justice on the international plane. Moreover, the interrelations between these various spheres in what the philosopher calls the process of “enkapsis” is at the heart of what might be termed a Dooyeweerdian international legal theory. His theory of enkapsis promises to provide a better account of the problematique of the structure, composition and values of the so-called “international community.”