Power: Hans Morgenthau and Ontology

Abstract

This part discusses fundamental concepts that guided Morgenthau’s ontological outlook on the world. Identifying power and the political as these concepts does not come as a surprise, as they have attracted extensive academic interest before (e.g., Tsou 1984; Mollov 2002; Hacke 2005; Scheuerman 2007a; Solomon 2012; Paipais 2014), and Morgenthau (1955: 434; 1962a: 19) repeatedly characterized them to be one of the “perennial problems” of politics. In this context, scholars like Williams (2005a), Hans-Karl Pichler (1998), as well as Stephen Turner and George Mazur (2009) argued that Morgenthau developed his concept of power in close congruence with Weber. Indeed, empirically, Morgenthau agreed with Weber’s tripartite division of power. However, Frei (2001), Ulrik Enemark Petersen (1999), or Neacsu (2010) demonstrated that Morgenthau did not simply rephrase Weber, but his thought was also strongly influenced by Nietzsche. Finally, Schuett (2007, 2010) asserted that the influence of psychoanalysis on Morgenthau should not be underrated, as his concept of power draws on Sigmund Freud too.