![]() First edition | |
Author | Hans Morgenthau |
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Language | English |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Publication date | 1946 |
Publication place | United States |
Scientific Man versus Power Politics is a 1946 work by realist academic Hans Morgenthau. [1] The book contains Morgenthau's most systematic exposition of a realist philosophy and a critique of a position he terms 'liberal rationalism'. [2] Morgenthau argues that liberalism's belief in human reason had been shown to be deficient because of the rise of Nazi Germany [3] and that emphasis on science and reason as routes to peace meant that states were losing touch with historic traditions of statecraft. [4] The work marked out Morgenthau as the pre-eminent modern exponent of a Hobbesian view of human nature in international relations scholarship. [5] 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. [6]
The sociologist Read Bain gave the book a critical review in Social Forces. [7]