International law as an argumentative practice: on wohlrapp’s the concept of argument

Abstract

It has become a commonplace to view international law as an argumentative practice. This commonplace, it is argued, clouds strong differences that reemerge with closer scrutiny. What, specifically, is the place of reason, rhetoric or violence in the practice of arguing? The present article explores the question of what it means to argue. Since this is a grand question, it approaches the topic in conversation with a grand book, Harald Wohlrapp’s The Concept of Argument: A Philosophical Foundation, recently published in English translation.