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Through the use of a poststructuralist perspective, Antony O´Loughlin challenges the most basic tenets of International Relations Theory and deploys Rawlsian ideas of public reason in conjunction with Kratochwil´s conceptions of practical reason in order to put forward a theory that overcomes the challenges posed by poststructuralism.

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1. Introduction: The ´Enormous Creative Potential of Practical Reason´ PART I: THE CHALLENGE - POSTSTRUCTURALISM AND IR´S RESPONSE 2. Inside/Outside: Walker, Ashley, and the Poststructuralist Critique of IR 3. Overcoming the Poststructuralist Critique? Ontology and Epistemology in the Constructivist Theories of Wendt and Kratochwil 4. Constitutive Political Theory: Mervyn Frost and the Role of Norms in International Political Theory PART II: THE SOLUTION - CONSTRUCTING NORMATIVE REASON 5. Beyond Coherence: Rawls´s Conception of Public Reason 6. Contemporary Moral Foundationalism: Buchanan´s Conception of Normative Reasoning and the Role of Institutions in Political Justification 7. Philosophical Constructivism and Critical Constructivism Combined: Kratochwil´s Account of the Conditions of Practical Reasoning and the Rawlsian Conception of Public Reason 8. The Concept of the Reasonable in International Political Justification: A Rejoinder to the Poststructualist Critique 9. Conclusion. Overcoming Poststructuralism

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´Antony O´Loughlin addresses two important questions: the moral grounding of human rights claims, and the specific properties of practical reasoning in international affairs. Serious-minded, lucid and compelling, O´Loughlin offers a fresh way of thinking about many of today´s most urgent, and somewhat frightening problems in international relations.´ - Anthony Julius, Deputy Chairman, Mishcon de Reya

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Antony O´Loughlin, Solicitor, Mishcon de Reya, UK.

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