The European Tradition in International Law: René-Jean Dupuy

• Toublanc, Alix

Abstract

R.-J. Dupuy's works are based on a dialectical approach to international law which integrates the inner strife and the various antagonisms that beset the ‘terrestrial city’. Nevertheless he refused Hegel's dialectic which opposes thesis and anthithesis to produce a sterile synthesis and leads to rigidity. On the contrary, Dupuy's ‘open dialectic’ is based on the rejection of mechanistic and deterministic philosophies, and his description of the terrestrial city is dynamic, perpetually confronting opposite points of view through the eyes of the ‘Captain’, the ‘Surveyor’, and the ‘Poet’ symbolizing the need for order, for change, and for transcendence.