Anarchia i dyscyplina : rzecz o realistycznych teoriach stosunków międzynarodowych Hansa Morgenthaua i Kennetha Waltza - MATEUSZ FILARY-SZCZEPANIK (Autor) (Kraków, 2019)
https://wydawnictwo.ignatianum.edu.pl/anarchia-i-dyscyplina.htm
Publikacja recenzowana
The aim of my book is to compare the classical grand theories of international relations of Hans Morgenthau and Kenneth Waltz. The interpretation stemming from this comparison cannot overlook the context of their creation. The direct context of the creation of Morgenthau’s and Waltz’s realistic theories were International Relations in the United States constituting a part of a broader social practice of social science. This is why the hypothesis adopted and verified in the book was: “The general context of theory creation by Morgenthau and Waltz is determined by the genesis and specificity of American social science, whereas the specific context is determined by the discipline of International Relations that developed during the great debates; both contexts had a significant structuring influence on these theories, resulting particularly in their scope reduction”. The basic method I adopted to verify the above hypothesis is the empirical-deductive method consisting of formulating a research problem and a corresponding hypothesis, i.e. “provisionally” determining the characteristics of the studied section of social reality. The next step is confronting such a hypothesis with empirical material in order to find whether it is true. Another important issue are explication and operationalisation, which allow determining the meaning of the terms used in the narration and the way of using them during research that the narration communicates. The next methodological aspect of the work present in this book is the analysis and synthesis method used to structure and organise the research process. It allowed me to split the research problem into a set of specific questions organising particular chapters. The second step of this method is synthesis, which generalises particular factors considered as important during the verification of the hypothesis arising from the analysed research problem that leads to its adoption or rejection. Moreover, I used the historical-comparative method, as an important element of my work is the comparison of Morgenthau’s and Waltz’s theories interpreted and criticised in a time sequence: Morgenthau’s theory first, then Waltz’s theory. Thus, it is a diachronic comparison. The history of International Relations as American social science also determines the contexts of creation of the two theories, which required reconstructing them with particular emphasis on the history of political science as a discipline from which the American International Relations emerged. I also used the case study method – I treated Morgenthau’s and Waltz’s theories as separate cases of International Relations theories, but since the aim of their analysis is to prepare the ground for their synthetic comparison, the case study method is used only for a part of the issues covered by the dissertation. In the first chapter, I presented the textbook version of the 1st debate in International Relations taking place during and after the Second World War. Its dominant approach in the newly formed discipline was political realism. This simplified vision was criticised by the so-called discipline history revisionists, who pointed out to several simplifications and myths translating into inadequate – in their opinion – description of reality by the advocates of traditional narration of the history of the discipline using the great debates approach. However, I presented a possibility of treating the great debate nominally, as indicators of the most important issues for the discipline on a given stage of development. I used this approach to International Relations in subsequent parts of the book. Then, I described the genesis and early stage of American social science, in particular political science and the contents belonging to International Relations emerging from this discipline. Against this background, I presented the thought of Morgenthau and Waltz, the subject of which, in particular Morgenthau’s criticism of social science expressed.
Keywords: nauki o polityce i administracji; anarchia; dyscyplina; filozofia nauk społecznych; Hans Morgenthau; historia idei; Kenneth Waltz; paradygmat; realizm polityczny; socjologia wiedzy; stosunki międzynarodowe