Abstract
This chapter argues that our understanding of Classical Realism can be strengthened by engaging more closely two critics of Morgenthau et al., Stanley Hoffmann and Raymond Aron. It shows that with their help we can better appreciate the strengths of Classical Realist IR as well as think more clearly about the downsides of this approach. It identifies the problem in Morgenthau’s theorizing as associated with a tradition of juristic thinking about power and politics and locates its critique in the tradition of sociologically informed theorizing. Directly and indirectly, Hoffmann and Aron rely on the latter and are then able to make an argument about the shortcomings of the Realist signature separating of the spheres of collective life as both a theoretical and ethical move.
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Stullerova, K. (2021). The Germans and the Frenchmen: Hoffmann’s and Aron’s Critiques of Morgenthau. In: Reichwein, A., Rösch, F. (eds) Realism. Trends in European IR Theory. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58455-9_8
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