Practical Constitutionalism

In this chapter, Anthony Lang explores the role that Aristotle plays – and could be playing – in a Praxis approach. He first shows that Kratochwil invokes Aristotle a number of times but critiques him for having an overly theoretical focus. Lang argues that Aristotle is more beneficial than Kratochwil makes him out to be for understanding the practical dimensions of international law and politics. In particular, Aristotle provides an alternative understanding of the rule of law and how it relates to the wider international political order, one that differs both from Kratochwil and contemporary international law. By highlighting these aspects of Aristotle’s work, Lang suggests that Kratochwil overly focuses on Aristotle’s theoretical side and misses the very practical dimensions of his work. As ancient constitutionalism relied more heavily on the social and the political than the narrowly legal, Lang suggests the phrase ‘practical constitutionalism’ to bring this dimension of Aristotle’s work to the fore.