Chapter One introduces the project, defends the utility of grand theory and offers
an overview of the argument and an outline of the chapters.
Chapter Two offers a critque of existing theories of international relations and the
paradgims from which they are drawn (i.e., realism, liberalism, constructivism and
Marxism). It draws on that critique to infer what a better theory of international relations
would have to accomplish, and discusses strategies for achieving these goals. .
Chapter Three (below) describes and justifies the ontological and epistemological
assumptions on which my theory is based, and offers an overview of the theory. The
remainder of the book will elaborate the theory and related arguments described in the thi
chapter.
Chapter Four develops a new paradigm of politics based on the spirit that finds
expression in striving for honor and standing. I draw on relevant classical,
anthropological and psychological literature, and the examples of ancient Greece, pre-
French Revolution Europe and pre-Tokagawa Japan.
Chapter Five examines the spirit, honor and standing in the modern world. It
looks at whey the category of the spirit was rejected by the Enlightenment and all but
disappeared from political philosophy and political analysis. Notable exceptions,
including Montesquieu and Tocqueville, sought to reshape adapt honor to materially-
oriented and democratic societies. Although given short shrift by philosophers, the spirit
remains a powerful and largely overlooked motive. I demonstrate how the search for
standing offers an alternative, or at least supporting, explanation for the emergence of the
modern state, and a better, if still partial, accounts for eighteenth century politics than
realism does. The hardest case to make for the spirit is in interest-based worlds, and I
accordingly attempt to show how necessary consideration of the quest for standing and
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Convention