The subject of the study is the ethical and metaphysical foundations of the principle of sovereign equality of states in their historical dynamics and in the context of contemporary challenges. Key attention is given to the analysis of the established Western doctrine, which derives the equality of states from the principle of moral equality of individuals, considering states as analogues of persons in a state of nature. This anthropocentric approach is critically examined in light of current transformations in the international legal order. The focus of the study is the search for and assessment of alternative models of justification for sovereign equality that attempt to overcome or reframe the anthropocentric core. This includes an analysis of the civilizational approach, economic-instrumental concepts, and projects of global constitutionalism. The study aims to determine whether a consistent ethical justification for the equality of states is possible outside a direct connection with the equality of people, and if so, on what metaphysical or normative basis. Thus, the subject covers both the historical reconstruction of the doctrine and the design of possible paths for its future reconstruction. The methodology of the research is based on an interdisciplinary approach that combines dogmatic and historical-legal analysis to reconstruct doctrinal positions. A philosophical-legal method is applied to identify ethical prerequisites, a comparative method to compare the Western paradigm with alternative approaches, as well as elements of critical legal studies to analyze the ambiguity of legal language. During the research, key historical-doctrinal approaches to the justification of the equality of states were systematized, revealing their fundamental connection with the idea of the equality of individuals. Furthermore, the methodological impasse of attempts to justify the equality of states outside this anthropocentric core is demonstrated, for example, through civilizational metaphysics or economic analysis, as such attempts encounter insurmountable semantic and normative contradictions. At the same time, a paradox of the civilizational approach is established, which, even while declaring the primacy of the collective, necessarily relies on the anthropocentric core of imperative norms (jus cogens) that protect human dignity. Ultimately, the thesis is justified that the promising path for reconstructing the principle lies not in a simple rejection of anthropocentrism, but in its dialectical synthesis with the idea of the equality of states. Such a synthesis is proposed to be realized on a new sensory-ethical basis that unites the concepts of unity, solidarity, and common destiny.
Даниил Сергеевич Сечин (Thu,) studied this question.