Are We Linguistically Left-Handed?

Abstract

The concept of responsibility provides an appropriate entry point for a socially based ethics of international relations. It places the parameters for such an ethics within the dynamics of interaction for both the activities being judged as well as the determination of the criteria for judgment. Legal methodology provides an invaluable tool for understanding responsibility, especially in international law. Rather than beginning from an abstract principle or a predetermined agent, responsibility determination in international law begins from an observed fact and then tries to impute responsibility for that fact to someone or something. In this sense, as shown by recent Security Council Resolutions, the subject is contextualized and linked to a specific situation.