An Introduction to Philosophy and International Relations

9780415776271

0415776279

Over the past two decades, philosophical considerations have become more prominent in mainstream discussions in the field of international relations. There has been a wave of discussions about how we go about producing knowledge of global politics, paying close attention to recent developments in the philosophy of science. All of this philosophical controversy can pose a fairly serious problem for many IR scholars, who have not been trained on how to engage in these discussions.Presuming little or no philosophical background, this book is specifically written for politics andinternationalrelationsscholars. It both informs scholars about the variety of philosophical positions available and establishes the importance to ordinary IR scholarship of taking such position more or less explicitly. Part1 informs IR scholars of the 'lay of the land' of contemporary philosophy of science, addressing such issues as the fate of logical positivism and the place of pragmatism vis-á-vis realism Part2 demonstrates and explains how central philosophical considerations are to the practice of IR scholarship and illustrates how philosophical considerations shape and give rise to methodological considerations. Demonstrating how issues relating to the status and character of knowledge of global politics cannot help but be extremely relevant to the practice of IR scholarship, this text will be a vital tool in the advanced study of IR and global politics.