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 know-ledge, the function of reason in generating knowledge, the relationship between know-ledge and certainty, and the criteria accor-ding 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 methodological-epistemological/ontological

field of I.R.theory Billiard-Ball-Model of Int. Politics

REALISM NEOREALISM

Traditionalism Scientism

Qualitative, historical- Quantitative hermeneutical , (deductively-) empirical, common-sensual 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 IThe 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 all-

encompassing 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 Iscientific/cognitive interestScientific advice to those who govern,

and political education of those who are governed; evaluating comments, norm-based opinions, and recom-mendations 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 deve-lopments and processes

Traditionalism III

specific view of the object of enquirya) 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 decision-makers 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

ScientismScientism 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: CharacteristicsOne 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 (Reiz-Reaktions-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 PoliticalScience 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 deductive-nomological 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- end-relationships, 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

hypotheses

Prediction fulfilled,theory appears consistent with

the facts

predictionslogical deduction

empirical observation

theory correct

theory discarded, new theory

needed

theory amendedPrediction not fulfilled,

theory appears inconsistent with

the factsor

either

Literaturtipp

• A.J.Ayer: Logical Positivism. New York: Free Press 1959

• Rudolf Haller: Neopositivismus. Eine Historische Einführung in die Philosophie des Wiener Kreises. Darmstadt: Wissen-schaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1993

Praktischer Hinweis für IT-Theoretiker