Transcript International Theory: The Second Debate Realism versus

International Theory: The Second
Debate
Realism versus Behavioralism
Or, to be more precise:
Traditionalism versus Scientism
Or also:
the debate between
Understanding and Explanation
Basic Terms
Ontological: concerning itself with what exists
- a 17th century coinage for the respective
branch of philosophical metaphysics
Epistemological: concerning itself with the
theory of knowledge
origin of knowledge,
the role of experience in generating knowledge, the function of reason in generating
knowledge, the relationship between knowledge and certainty, and the criteria according to which we decide on the validity and
tenability of statements
During the first part of the seminar, we looked
at the ontology of I.R., at the respective world
views linked to particular Grand Theories.
Classic Example of different ontologies: the
First Great Debate betweeen Idealism and
Realism (or between a Hobbesian & a
Lockean/Kantian/Grotian view of IR)
* * *
The Second Great Debate between
Traditionalism and Scientism looks at the
epistemology of I.R. How can we be sure that
the statements we formulate are correct ??
The methodologicalepistemological/ontological field of I.R.theory
Billiard-Ball-Model of Int. Politics
REALISM
NEOREALISM
Traditionalism
Qualitative, historicalhermeneutical ,
common-sensual
Scientism
Quantitative
(deductively-) empirical,
nomological
IDEALISM
GLOBALISM
Cobweb-Model of Int. Politics
The Billard-Ball-Model of International Politics
Pulling forces
Pushing forces
Cobweb model of international Relations
Traditionalism vs. Scientism I
The Traditional Approach to theorizing derives
from philosophy, history, and law, and is
characterized above all by explicit reliance
upon the exercise of judgment and by the
assumption that if we confine ourselves to
strict standards of verification very little can
be said of international relations. General
propositions about this field must therefore
derive from a scientifically imperfect process
of perception and intuition; general
propositions cannot be accorded more than
tentative and inconclusive status adequate to
their doubtful & fuzzy origin
Traditionalism vs. Scientism II
The Behavioralist or Scientistic Approach shows a
concern with
• explanatory rather than normative theory
• recurring patterns rather than the single case
• operational concepts that have measurable empirical
referents rather than reified concepts
• conceptual frameworks rather than allencompassing world-explaining theories
• the techniques of precise data gathering,
measurement and presentation.
Literaturtipp
• Klaus Knorr/James N. Rosenau (eds.): Contending
Approaches to International Politics. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton UP 1969
• Martin Hollis/Steve Smith: Explaining and
Understanding in International Relations. Oxford:
Clarendon Press 1990
Traditionalism I
scientific/cognitive interest
Scientific advice to those who govern,
and political education of those who
are governed; evaluating comments,
norm-based opinions, and recommendations for action regarding
present political decisions on the basis
of respective scientific research results
Traditionalism II
Problem statement:
striving for an understanding of politics
on the basis of an insight into and of a
knowledge of historical-social developments and processes
Traditionalism III
specific view of the object of enquiry
a) Politics is a specific social form of action full of
sense and values – an art which can be learned on
the basis of historical examples. Historical and
social phenomena can be clearly distinguished from
natural phenomena; thus, they are not susceptible
to scientific explanations taking the form of if - then
statements
b) b) International Politics
competitive zero-sum-game for power and influence
in an anarchic world of states, characterized by the
security dilemma and the role of states as primary
(if not near-exclusive) international actors
Traditionalism IV
methods of analysis:
hermeneutic, ideographic, descriptive, or
normative approaches typical for the arts
and historical sciences
validity criteria of scientific statements:
Common Sense – the view that we know
most, if not all, of those things which
ordinary people think they know and that any
satisfactory epistemological theory must be
adequate to the fact that we know such
things
Value relationship: scientific statements are
characterized by explicit dependence on
values
Traditionalism V
Concept of Theory:
a)
Constitution of a general theory of political action
based on the regular appearance of phenomena
and forms of international politics over time,
formulating recommendations to political decisionmakers for action in comparable situations
b)
Formulation of ideal types based on historical
comparisons which help with the understanding
and classification of concrete historical and
political phenomena
Scientism
Scientism is a philosophical position that exalts the
methods of the natural sciences above all other
modes of human inquiry. Scientism embraces only
empiricism and reason to explain phenomena of any
dimension, whether physical, social, cultural, or
psychological.
Drawing from the general empiricism of The Enlightenment,
scientism is most closely associated with the positivism of
August Comte (1798-1857) who held an extreme view of
empiricism, insisting that true knowledge of the world arises only
from perceptual experience. Comte criticized ungrounded
speculations about phenomena that cannot be directly
encountered by proper observation, analysis and experiment.
Such a doctrinaire stance associated with science leads to an abuse
of reason that transforms a rational philosophy of science into an
irrational dogma. It is this ideological dimension that we
associate with the term scientism. Today the term is used with
pejorative intent to dismiss substantive arguments that appeal to
scientific authority in contexts where science might not apply.
Scientism (2)
• Epistemological scientism lays claim to an
exclusive approach to knowledge. Human
inquiry is reduced to matters of material
reality. We can know only those things that
are ascertained by experimentation through
application of the scientific method. And
since the method is emphasized with such
great importance, the scientistic tendency is
to privilege the expertise of a scientific elite
who can properly implement the method.
Behavioralism
• The so-called “behavioral revolution”
took hold in academic disciplines and
grant-making bodies during the 1940’s,
placing emphasis on individual level
psychological variables and
quantitative methods.
The Behavioral Revolution
Goal: an interdisciplinary, methodologically
rigorous science of human behavior, with the
ability to predict as well as prescribe.
Announcing its commitment to behavioralism,
the Ford Foundation identified two main
convictions:
– All problems “from war to individual
adjustment” could be traced to individual
behavior and human relations.
– Methodologically rigorous research might
uncover “laws” of human behavior and thus
help to inform policy.
Behavioralism: Characteristics
One of the most "influential" definitions of
behavioralism has been David Easton's list of its
characteristics:
1) search for regularities, even with explanatory and
predictive value,
2) verification with testable propositions,
3) self-conscious examination for rigorous techniques,
4) quantification for precision when possible and
relevant,
5) keeping values and empirical explanations
analytically distinct,
6) systematization as an intertwining of theory and
research,
7) pure science preceding the application of
knowledge, and
8) integration of the social sciences
(Easton 1962: 7-8; Easton 1965: 7).
Stimulus-Response-Model
Stimulus-Response-Model (ReizReaktions-Modell)
• S
R
• Later, in somewhat less rigorous form,
• „Stimulus-Organism-Response-Model“
S
O
R
Literaturtipp
• David Easton: The New Revolution in
Political Science.. The American Political
Science Review, Vol. 63, No. 4, Dez.1969.,
1051-1061.
• Falter, Jürgen W.: Der "Positivismusstreit" in
der amerikanischen Politikwissenschaft,
Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag 1982
• Falter, J. W./Honolka, H./Ludz, U.: Politische
Theorie in den USA. Eine empirische Analyse
der Entwicklung von 1950 bis 1980. Opladen:
Westdeutscher Verlag 1990
Positivism I
• Axioms: correspondence theory of
truth, methodological unity of science,
value-free scientific knowledge
• Premisses: Division of Subject and
Object, Naturalism – deduction of all
phenomena from natural facts, Division
of statements of facts and statements
of values
Positivism II
• Consequences:
• Postulated existence of a „real“ world
(Object) independent from the theory- loaded
grasp of the scientist (subject);
• identification of facts in an intersubjectively
valid observation language independent from
theories;
• methodological exclusion of idiosyncratic
characteristics and/or individual (subject)
identities assures objective knowledge of an
intersubjectively transferable character
Positivism III
• Postulate of like regularities in the natural as
well as the social world, independent of time,
place, and observer, enables the transfer of
analytic approaches and deductivenomological processes of theory formulation
from the field of the natural to the field of the
social sciences & to the analysis of
social/societal problems
• Knowledge generated on the basis of
positivist research approaches and
methodologies is limited to the objective (i.e.
empirical) world. Statements and decisions
on values are outside the sphere of
competence of science.
Positivism IV
• Further Consequences:
• Concept of Reason predicated on the purposeful
rationality/rationality of purpose of instrumental
action aiding the actor to technically master
her/his environment
• Rationalisation of societal (inter-)action by its
predication on planned/plannable means- endrelationships, technical (or engineering)
knowledge, depersonalisation of relationships of
power and dominance, and extension of control
over natural and social objects (“rationalisation of
the world we live in”)
Positivism V
• Theory regards itself as problem-solving theory,
which accepts the institutions and power/dominance
relationships of a pre-given reality as analytical and
reference frameworks, and strives for the
explanation of causal relationships between societal
phenomena; its aim is the elimination of
disturbances and/or their sources in order to insure
friction-less action/functioning of social actors
• International politics is regarded as the interaction of
exogeneously constituted actors under anarchy, the
behaviour of which is as a rule explained by
recourse to the characteristics or parameters of the
international system (top-down explanation)
Positivism VI
Positivist theory creation and testing
logical
deduction
hypotheses
empirical
observation
either
or
theory
correct
Prediction not fulfilled,
theory appears
inconsistent with
the facts
Prediction fulfilled,
theory appears
consistent with
the facts
predictions
theory amended
theory
discarded,
new theory
needed
Literaturtipp
• A.J.Ayer: Logical Positivism. New York: Free
Press 1959
• Rudolf Haller: Neopositivismus. Eine
Historische Einführung in die Philosophie
des Wiener Kreises. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1993
Praktischer Hinweis für IT-Theoretiker