Scientific Man versus Power Politics

{{Short description|1946 book by Hans Morgenthau}}

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|name = Scientific Man versus Power Politics

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|image = Scientific Man versus Power Politics.jpg

|caption = First edition

|author = Hans Morgenthau

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|country = United States

|language = English

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|publisher = University of Chicago Press

|release_date = 1946

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Scientific Man versus Power Politics is a 1946 work by realist academic Hans Morgenthau.Scheuerman, William. "Was Morgenthau a Realist? Revisiting Scientific Man vs. Power Politics" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the ISA's 49th ANNUAL CONVENTION, BRIDGING MULTIPLE DIVIDES, Hilton San Francisco, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA, Mar 26, 2008 The book contains Morgenthau's most systematic exposition of a realist philosophy and a critique of a position he terms 'liberal rationalism'.Martin Griffiths, Steven C. Roach, M. Scott Solomon (2009) Fifty Key Thinkers in International Relations, Abingdon: Routledge, p. 51 Morgenthau argues that liberalism's belief in human reason had been shown to be deficient because of the rise of Nazi GermanyFrankel, Benjamin (1996) Realism: Restatements and Renewal Chippenham: Frank Cass, p. 4 and that emphasis on science and reason as routes to peace meant that states were losing touch with historic traditions of statecraft.Thompson, Kenneth (1996) Schools of Thought in International Relations: Interpreters, Issues and Morality, University of Louisiana State Press, p. 20 The work marked out Morgenthau as the pre-eminent modern exponent of a Hobbesian view of human nature in international relations scholarship.Phythian, Mark (2006) The Labour Party, War and International Relations, 1945–2006, Abingdon: Routledge, p. 34 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.Renggner, Nicholas (2000) International Relations, Political Theory, and the Problem of Order: Beyond International Relations Theory?, London: Routledge, p. 44

The sociologist Read Bain gave the book a critical review in Social Forces.{{Cite journal|last=Bain|first=R.|date=1947-05-01|title=Scientific Man vs. Power Politics. By Hans J. Morgenthau. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1946. 245 pp. $3.00|url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2571951|journal=Social Forces|volume=25|issue=4|pages=473–474|doi=10.2307/2571951|jstor=2571951|issn=0037-7732|url-access=subscription}}