| ID | 079482 |
| Title Proper | Morgenthau in Context |
| Other Title Information | german backwardness, German intellectuals and the rise and fall of a liberal project |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Shilliam, Robbie |
| Publication | 2007. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | By what criteria might the human condition be considered `tragic'? In this article I argue that historically contextualizing the criteria by which Morgenthau judged the human condition to be tragic requires a sensitivity to what might be called the `international dimension' of knowledge production. Specifically, I argue that Morgenthau's tragic sense of the relation between liberal ethics and the reality of politics was constructed as a reaction to a preceding set of intellectual engagements - exemplified by the political philosophies of Georg Hegel and Max Weber - with the perceived `backward' nature of the `liberal' project in Germany in comparison to that of republican France and capitalist Britain. Through this investigation I argue that inter-societal difference is not simply an object of political theory, but at a deeper level generative in the historical construction of that thought itself. This argument has implications for Morgenthau's recent resurrection as a critical voice on the separation of ethics and politics in International Relations theory |
| `In' analytical Note | European Journal of International Relations Vol. 13, No.3; Sep 2007: p299-327 |
| Journal Source | European Journal of International Relations Vol. 13, No.3; Sep 2007: p299-327 |
| Key Words | Hegel ; Liberalism ; Morgenthau ; Realism ; Weber |