Everyday ethics in international relations

Ethical conduct reflects what we feel we should or must do, given available standards. Norms and rules (norms are rules) set standards and prescribe conduct meeting those standards: ethics necessarily refers to rules in relation to the reasons that we give for our conduct. While philosophers looks for universal standards, everyday ethics refers to the mostly local and informal rules at hand. By setting standards for honourable, good and right conduct, these rules pull in different directions. First and foremost are rules that assign statuses, confer standing and call for honourable conduct. Everyday ethics characterize small worlds where face-to-face contact and performative speech dominate social relations. Despite appearances, the world of international relations is a small place. The relatively few agents of states whose world it is share daily lives and personal histories. The status of the state as an exalted fiction accentuates the importance of honour for its agents. The modern world consists of many small worlds whose complex relations depend on the formalization of rules. State agents superintend this process, which eventuates in general, highly formal rules. Widely accepted, these general principles are nevertheless irreconcilable as universal standards. Instead they reflect the divergent tendencies inherent in everyday ethics.