Morgenthau as Moralist?

Ethics, 2015

Social Researcher, 1994

Politeja, 2008

My first, published in English, attempt at interpretation of Morgnethau's theory of international politics. I guess, my workshop have progressed a lot form the time I was writing this text i but the reconstruction itself is still decent and his message about the relations between morality and power on the international milieu is as relevant a it ever were. The aim of this article is to present the role of morality in the theory of international politics created by Hans Morgenthau. Morgenthau is considered to be one of the founding fathers of the discipline of International Relations, and of the realist paradigm in particular. He gave a lot of consideration to the question of morality and its ties with politics in his theory. What is interesting is the fact that a typical understanding of his theory focuses on the category of power, which in his view was the analytic category that gave IR scientific rigor and consistency, and, additionally, differentiates it from other social sciences. Although, it is not the purpose of this article to undermine this interpretation of the central role of power in Morgenthau’s theory, I will attempt to demonstrate, in contrast to the received wisdom that can be found in most of the textbooks on IR theory and realism, that morality plays an important role in his thinking about international reality.

The present translation of Morgenthau’s study The Concept of the Political ( La notion du “politique” et la théorie des différends internationaux) from 1933 is, therefore, the first endeavor to make his European writings more accessible to students of International Relations, particularly of the English-speaking academia, by presenting a translation of his original French text.

Though realism has developed a reputation as an amoral and bellicose doctrine, the the works of classical realist scholar Hans J. Morgenthau reveal a set of utilitarian ethics which seek to mitigate the effects of a savage human nature on the international system. This paper deconstructs Morgenthau's theoretical works, and focuses on three of his key concepts: ‘the evil of politics,’ the ‘moral precept of prudence,’ and ‘utilitarian ethics.’ Though brief, this paper concludes by considering Weber's 'moral problem in International Relations' and whether or not politics can ever be moral.

Journal of International Political Theory, 2009