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Truth, Power, Theory: Hans Morgenthau's Formulation of Realism

2004; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 15; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09592290490438042

1557-301X

Seán Molloy,

Abstract The purpose of this article is to reconstruct the political realism of Hans J. Morgenthau. The article traces the development of his thought from his earliest writings on social science and politics in English in the 1940s through to his formulation of political realism in the classic text Politics Among Nations. The Struggle for Power and Peace and finally to his reconsideration of this theory in a series of texts that have been neglected by historians of political thought, the most significant of which is Science: Servant or Master? which revisits the terrain first explored by Morgenthau in Scientific Man Versus Power Politics. The article demonstrates that one core concept dominated the thinking of Morgenthau, that of 'truth,' which conditioned his thought about the nature of politics throughout his career. It is Morgenthau's commitment to discovering the truth of politics that led him to formulate realism as a sceptical theory of power politics in contrast to the optimistic but misleading theories of international relations that he had attacked since his days as a graduate student. Despite changes in the details and even in the fundamentals Morgenthau retained this basic commitment to the discovery of truth. Notes 1 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'Positivism, Functionalism, and International Law', American Journal of International Law, 34/2 (April 1940), p.260. 2 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'The Limitations of Science and the Problem of Social Planning', Ethics, 54/3 (April 1944), pp.174–80. 3 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'Science of Peace: A Rationalist Utopia', Social Research, 42 (1975), pp.24–21. On the fundamental misalliance of international politics and scientific method see also Robert Jervis, 'Hans Morgenthau, Realism, and the Scientific Study of International Politics', Social Research, 61/4 (Winter 1994), pp.858–9. 4 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'The Limitations of Science and the Problem of Social Planning', Ethics, 54/3 (April 1944), p.184. 5 Ibid., p.185. 6 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'Another "Great Debate": The National Interest of the United States', American Political Science Review, 46/4 (Dec. 1952), p.966. Morgenthau wrote this article in response to criticism of Politics Among Nations, and in particular the criticisms of Robert Tucker, Frank Tannenbaum, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. It is particularly useful in that it clarifies some of the more technical issues around the construction of Morgenthau's theoretical position that are glossed over in Politics Among Nations itself. 7 'The Perils of Empiricism', in Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics in the Twentieth Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971 abridged edn.), p.352. See William Bain's 'Deconfusing Morgenthau: Moral Inquiry and Classical Realism Reconsidered', Review of International Studies, 26/3 (2000) for an interesting discussion on the anticipation of social constructivist approaches to international theory in Morgenthau's work. 8 For a detailed analysis of Carr and The Twenty Years' Crisis, see Seán Molloy, 'Dialectics and Transformation: Exploring the International Theory of E.H. Carr', International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, 17/2 (2003). 9 Hans J. Morgenthau, Scientific Man Versus Power Politics (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1946), p.3. 10 Ibid., p.5. 11 Ibid., p.10. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid., p.107. 14 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'Another "Great Debate": The National Interest of the United States', American Political Science Review, 46/4 (Dec. 1952), p.977. Compare this approach with Carr's rejection of economistic logic in The Twenty Years' Crisis. 15 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'Common Sense and Theories of International Relations', Journal of International Affairs, 21 (1967), pp.208–9. Morgenthau stresses the difference between the natural and social sciences in numerous places, e.g. 'the social scientist is not a detached observer of social events as the natural scientist is a detached observer of the phenomenon of nature', 'The Escape from Power', in Morgenthau, Politics in the Twentieth Century, p.4. 16 Hans J. Morgenthau, Science: Servant or Master? (New York: New American Library, 1972), pp.12–20. 17 Hans J. Morgenthau, The Decline of Democratic Politics (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1958), p.4. 18 Ibid., pp.2–3. 19 Ibid., p.36. 20 For the complex three-way dialogue which informed Wight's international theory, and the realist underpinnings of both that theory and the international society, see Seán Molloy, 'The Realist Logic of International Society', Cooperation and Conflict, 38/2 (2003). 21 Hans J. Morgenthau, The Decline of Democratic Politics (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1958), p.131. 22 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'Thought and Action in Politics', Social Research, 37 (1971), pp.617–24. 23 Kenneth N. Waltz, Theory of International Politics (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979). 24 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'The Machiavellian Utopia', Ethics, 55, pp.145–7. 25 Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations. The Struggle for Power and Peace (New York: Knopf, 5th edn. 1972), pp.3–4. Wight's combination of Christian/Augustinian insights and Machiavellian concepts of power and human nature are present throughout his works, see Molloy, 'The Realist Logic of International Society'. 26 Ibid., p.4. In the prefaces to the second and third editions of Politics Among Nations, Morgenthau complains of being criticized for expressing beliefs that he did not hold: 'it is not pleasant for an author to be blamed for ideas he has not only never expressed, but which he has explicitly and repeatedly refuted and which are rejected by him', Preface to the third edition, Politics Among Nations. The Struggle for Power and Peace, p.xv. 27 Ibid., p.4. 28 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'International Relations', Encyclopaedia Britannica, reprinted in Politics in the Twentieth Century, p.359. 29 This also contradicts Morgenthau's theory of 'social facts': if in the final analysis empirical reality is rooted in the mind of the observer, (see note 7), then this historico-empirical reality is also reduced to the level of a subjective, rather than objective category. 30 Michael Smith argues that Morgenthau's approach to history is derived from the perception of a rational pattern of politics inherent in the pursuit of the national interest, Smith, Realist Thought, p.155. He concludes that this principle of the national interest is simply to subjectivize history to a passive content necessary as the basis for the rational theory that Morgenthau is trying to create. 31 Hans. J. Morgenthau, 'Love and Power', in Politics in the Twentieth Century, pp.189–96. 32 Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, p.5. 33 Waltz, Theory of International Politics, pp.6–7. 34 Morgenthau was anxious to stress that the national interest was the sole means of understanding international relations, and that 'moral abstractions' were responsible for the decline of American diplomacy and statecraft. See for example, Hans J. Morgenthau, In Defense of the National Interest. A Critical Examination of American Foreign Policy (Washington: University Press of America, 1982), pp.3–4. 35 Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, 5th edn., p.7. The significance of this counter-theory of irrationalism would grow to have an enormous impact on Morgenthau's thinking in the latter part of his life. 36 Ibid., p.8. 37 See Seán Molloy, 'Realism: A Problematic Paradigm', Security Dialogue, 34/1 (2003), pp.71–85, in which I expose the shortcomings of the scientific approach in relation to determining the content of a 'paradigm' of realism. 38 See e.g. Morgenthau's formulation of this in 'The Escape from Power'. 'Any realistic conception of politics… must assume that man is born and lives in chains. He is the object of political domination… man living in chains not only wants to be free but also wants to be master.' The Freudian aspect of Morgenthau's interpretation of power is best expressed in his essay 'Love and Power'. Both of these essays are to be found in Morgenthau, Politics in the Twentieth Century. Morgenthau claimed to have been influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis, but ultimately rejected it because it, like Marxism, was unable to account for the 'complexities and varieties of political experience', Hans J. Morgenthau, 'An Intellectual Autobiography' Society, 15 (1978), p.67. 39 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'The Impotence of American Power' and 'The Problem of Germany' in Truth and Power. Essays of a Decade, 1960–1970 (New York and London: Praeger, 1970), pp.315–25, 332–40. 40 Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, p.9. 41 Morgenthau, In Defense of the National Interest, p.33. 42 The 'contemporary phenomenon of the moral crusade' the 'ultimate degeneration of international moralism' is found in both Wilsonian and Soviet universalism, ibid., pp.36–7. 43 That is not to say that a country cannot act in a fashion beneficial to others, just that the benefit should originate in sound principles of enlightened self-interest – it is reasonable for a country to seek another's support by giving it aid. According to Morgenthau, foreign aid should be allocated according to a political logic, rather than an economic logic. Thus the Soviet paving of the streets of Kabul was more effective in gaining Afghan support than an American dam in a remote part of the country. Hans J. Morgenthau 'A Political Theory of Foreign Aid', American Political Science Review, Vol. 56, Issue 2 (Jun., 1962), p. 308. 44 This is also in contradiction of his earlier statement on the interdependence of ethics and politics as a result of the 'curious dialectic' of ethics and politics, 'which prevents the latter, in spite of itself, from escaping the former's judgement and normative direction'. Hans J. Morgenthau, 'The Evil of Politics and the Ethics of Evil', Ethics, 56 (Oct. 1945), p.5. 45 Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, 5th edn., p.20. 46 Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations (New York: Knopf, 6th edn. 1985) p.41. This is a posthumous edition edited by Morgenthau's colleague Kenneth Thompson. 47 Ibid., pp.52–3. 48 Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations. 5th edn., p.167. 49 Ibid., p.173. 50 Ibid., pp.184–5. 51 Ibid., p.193. 52 Ibid., p.213. 53 Ibid., pp.219–20. 54 See e.g. his treatment of the idea of just behaviour being dependent upon the social construction of the idea of the 'just' in a particular political community, and the absence of an agreed definition of just behaviour in the international community – 'No man could give answers to these questions which would be more than reflections of his own national preconceptions, for there are no standards at once concrete and universal enough to provide more than ex parte answers to such questions.' Hans J. Morgenthau, 'National Interest and Moral Principles in Foreign Policy', American Scholar, 18 (Spring 1949), p.211. 55 Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, p.220. 56 See e.g. his appeal to a transcendent ethics of human behaviour outside of history in the symposium Human Rights and Foreign Policy (New York: Council on Religion and International Affairs, 1979), pp.1–10. 57 Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, p.226. 58 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'The Moral Dilemma of Political Action', in Politics in the Twentieth Century, p.17. 59 Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, p.228. 60 Ibid., p.375. 61 Ibid., pp.417–20. 62 Ibid., pp.465–70. 63 Ibid., p.475. 64 Ibid., pp.489–511. 65 Ibid., pp.517–18. 66 Ibid., p.538. 67 Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations, 5th edn., p.10. 68 Hans J. Morgethau's introduction to David Mitrany's A Working Peace System (Chicago: Quadrangle, 1966), p.9. 69 Ibid., p.11. 70 For Carr's formulation of realism and adaptations of his original theses see Molloy, 'Dialectics and Transformations', pp.279–92. 71 Morgenthau describes the use of nuclear weapons as a suicidal absurdity in 'The Impotence of American Power', Truth and Power, p.327. Morgenthau, Science: Servant or Master? pp.115 ff. for his analysis of the policies of deterrence, counterforce, arms limitation and control, and alliances see the final chapter of A New Foreign Policy for the United States (New York & London: Frederick A. Praeger, 1969), pp.207–40. 72 Morgenthau, Human Rights and Foreign Policy, pp.42–3. Elsewhere, Morgenthau described the contemporary world as confronted with novel problems, 'the breakdown of the state system… and the development of a technology which makes war an instrument of total destruction. The change in the nature of war, and the powers involved in the post WW2 world were such that the balance of power had ceased to be an effective means of conceiving the international environment, Hans J. Morgenthau, 'The Nature of Contemporary World Politics', in Hans J. Morgenthau and Kenneth Thompson (eds.), Principles and Problems of International Politics. Selected Readings (Washington: University Press of America, reprint 1982), pp.293–4. 73 Morgenthau, Science: Servant or Master? p.153. 74 David Fromkin, 'Remembering Hans Morgenthau', World Policy Journal, 10/3 (Fall 1993), pp.87–8. 75 Hans J. Morgenthau, 'An Intellectual Autobiography', Society, 15 (1978), p.68. 76 Ibid.