''Scientific Man versus Power Politics'' is a 1946 work by realist academic
Hans Morgenthau
Hans Joachim Morgenthau (February 17, 1904 – July 19, 1980) was a German-American jurist and political scientist who was one of the major 20th-century figures in the study of international relations. Morgenthau's works belong to the tradition o ...
. The book contains Morgenthau's most systematic exposition of a
realist philosophy and a critique of a position he terms 'liberal rationalism'. Morgenthau argues that liberalism's belief in human reason had been shown to be deficient because of the rise of Nazi Germany and that emphasis on science and reason as routes to peace meant that states were losing touch with historic traditions of statecraft. The work marked out Morgenthau as the pre-eminent modern exponent of a Hobbesian view of human nature in international relations scholarship. Despite the contemporary association between (neo)realism and positivism ''Scientific Man'' has been considered a critique of attempts to place politics on a 'scientific' footing in works such as Charles Merriam's ''
New Aspects of Politics
''New Aspects of Politics'' is a 1925 book by Charles Merriam. It is considered to be one of the early contributions to the behaviouralist movement in politics. N. Jayapalan (2002) ''Comprehensive Modern Political Analysis'', Dehli: Atlantic Publi ...
''.
The sociologist Read Bain gave the book a critical review in ''Social Forces''.
See also
* ''
Politics Among Nations
''Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace'' is a political science book by Hans Morgenthau published in 1948.
The book introduces the concept of political realism, presenting a realist view of power politics. This concept played ...
''
* ''
The Twenty Years' Crisis
''The Twenty Years' Crisis: 1919–1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations'' is a book on international relations written by E. H. Carr. The book was written in the 1930s shortly before the outbreak of World War&nbs ...
''
References
{{international relations theories
Political realism
1946 non-fiction books
International relations theory
Books about international relations
University of Chicago Press books