Two Naturalist Theories

This chapter looks at the formation of the early modern state and international society. To borrow Frost’s phrase, it looks at the conception and early development of ‘the modern state domain’ (Frost, 1996, 78). It is claimed that the development of the early modern European state and international society took place simultaneously, as parallel processes, and that the linking between the two levels of community is essential for the understanding of both. The rest of the chapter explores how particular meanings of equality in international society make intelligible the place of the state within international society and hence make international society conceivable. Two different ways to justify equal treatment among states are reconstructed, offering two rather different yet related notions of the relations of states within international society. Both are examples of naturalist political thought and both display a range of critical normative dilemmas that still prevail when conceiving of contemporary international society and the way in which relations between communities are understood and organised.