Waltz's Theory of Theory

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4444804
AutoresOle Waever (0000-0002-9053-5855, autor de correspondencia)
Año2009
Volumen23
Número2
Páginas201-222
Fecha de publicación2009-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Relations (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0047-1178 • E-ISSN: 1741-2862
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0047117809104635
OpenAlexW1993559323
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas34

Waltz's 1979 book, Theory of International Politics, is the most influential in the history of the discipline. It worked its effects to a large extent through raising the bar for what counted as theoretical work, in effect reshaping not only realism but rivals like liberalism and reflectivism. Yet, ironically, there has been little attention paid to Waltz's very explicit and original arguments about the nature of theory. This article explores and explicates Waltz's theory of theory. Central attention is paid to his definition of theory as `a picture, mentally formed' and to the radical anti-empiricism and anti-positivism of his position. Followers and critics alike have treated Waltzian neorealism as if it was at bottom a formal proposition about cause-effect relations. The extreme case of Waltz being so victorious in the discipline, and yet being so consistently misinterpreted on the question of theory, shows the power of a dominant philosophy of science in US IR, and thus the challenge facing any ambitious theorising. The article suggests a possible movement of fronts away from the `fourth debate' between rationalism and reflectivism towards one of theory against empiricism. To help this new agenda, the article introduces a key literature from the philosophy of science about the structure of theory, and particularly about the way even natural science uses theory very differently from the way IR's mainstream thinks it does - and much more like the way Waltz wants his theory to be used

Adjudication · Art history · Empiricism · Epistemology · International relations · Neorealism (international relations) · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Positivism · Sociology · Waltz · History · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance