A Study of the Philosophy of International Law as Seen in Works of Latin American Writers

One of the most unfortunate facts about the relationship of the United States with Latin America is that only in recent years has there been any appreciable amount of intellectual interchange with reference to law. This, of course, is an example of the relative lack of cultural exchange between these peoples. Only in very recent years has the North American interest in Latin America been in any sense general and active. While there are a few recent volumes which discuss various aspects of Latin American law in a fashion calculated to interest the North American lawyer and academician, the Latin American contributions to and attitudes toward international law are virtually unknown in the United States except in very restricted quarters. For this reason it was thought that a survey such as the one presented here would contribute not only to a better under standing of Latin American juristic thought as pertaining to international law, but also to a better comprehension of legal theory in general, and of Latin American culture as a whole. The phase of the philosophy of international law which, with reference to the regional application here studied, has been the major interest in this work, i. e. , whether writers rely more on naturalism or positivism as the philosophical foundation of the law of nations, is, like the matter of Latin American law itself, a subject which has been neglected by North American scholars.

I. General Philosophical Background. - A. The 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries. - B. The 19th and 20th Centuries. - II. The Latin American Writers of the Nineteenth Century. - A. The Positivists. - B. The Eclectics. - C. The Naturalists. - D. Juan Bautista Alberdi. - E. Miscellany. - Conclusions. - III. The Writers of the Twentieth Century. - I. - II. - IV American International Law. - A. An Historical Survey. - B. The Thesis of Alejandro Alvarez. - C. Opposition to the Alvarez Thesis, and General Latin American Opinion. - Conclusions. - Summary and Conclusions.