The Camel, the Lion, the Child, and the International Legal Übermensch

By adopting a Nietzschean style of metaphorical writing, readers are invited to gaze into the abyss of legal nihilism – where international law’s foundations are nothing but a mirror reflecting our own desires. The article traces an international lawyer's journey through the international legal desert where Nietzsche’s famous metamorphoses of the Camel, the Lion, and the Child are employed to identify four types of legal discourse: traditional positivist doctrine, classical legal philosophy, normative critique, and methodological critique. As our lawyer explores these four discursive stops of the desert, he becomes increasingly ‘critical’ of traditional legal discourse like the Camel progressively undertaking heavier loads. This ‘critical’ turn nevertheless begins to turn upon itself, as the deconstructing Lion realises that critique cannot escape the structures it tries to expose. This brings our lawyer to the abyss of legal nihilism where the inherent meaning of legal discourse falls into a deep black pit – only for that very realisation to fall along with it. At the end, our lawyer is presented with a fundamental choice: fall into despair and nihilism or turn around joyfully and reengage. And what other writing style than a lyrical one can enable him to choose the latter?