Introduction: International Legal Theory and the Cognitive Turn

Cognitive and behavioural studies are making inroads into the international law literature and international policy-making; yet their implications for international legal theory remain under-explored. This book is premised on the assumptions that first, human cognition affects the perceptions and behaviour of real-world international law decision-makers; and second, cognitive processes matter in how international law is formed, interpreted, implemented, and theorized. The book’s chapters set out to unearth if and how implicit or explicit assumptions about human cognition are present in various international legal theories; as well as if and how these theoretical approaches can be informed and potentially modified by cognitive studies. Following a succinct discussion on the ‘cognitive turn’, the Introduction briefly addresses some central terminological and conceptual issues of cognitive and behavioural studies used in the following chapters. It also exposes some key concepts of cognitive-behavioural studies, sheds light on various interactions between the latter studies and some prominent properties of international legal theories, and provides brief summaries of the book’s chapters.