Structure? What Structure

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4444852
AutoresNicholas Onuf, Nicholas G Onuf (0000-0001-7212-8917, autor correspondente)
Ano2009
Volume23
Fascículo2
Páginas183-199
Data de publicação2009-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Relations (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0047-1178 • E-ISSN: 1741-2862
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0047117809104634
OpenAlexW2033459006
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9

Kenneth Waltz is a structural theorist. While scholars often comment on Waltz's conception of structure, they rarely address the philosophical assumptions behind it - assumptions that go back to Kant and finally to Aristotle. Appropriately situated, Waltz's conception of structure points to a strong version of constructivist social theory. To make my case, I trace Waltz's view of political structure in his early work, recapitulate his views on science, models and theory, address the question of his (or any) theory's relation to `reality', illustrate his difficulty with structural theory and institutional reality, and consider the vexed question of any theory's fit to a world already talked into existence. I show how close Waltz is to a philosophical position that solves his problem with theory's relation to reality and specifies the conditions under which any social theory can make sense or use of the term structure

Epistemology · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Relation (database) · Sociology · TRACE (psycholinguistics) · Waltz · Computer Science · Critical Theory and Philosophy · History · Law · Philosophy · Political Science Research and Education · Pragmatism in Philosophy and Education