Political Realism, Freud, And Human Nature In International Relations: The Resurrection Of The Realist Man (the Palgrave Macmillan History Of International Thought)

In the tradition of political realism, this book provides an important reappraisal of the concept of human nature in contemporary realist international-political theory. With special reference to the anthropology of Sigmund Freud, a consequential yet terribly neglected and underestimated thinker in International Relations, Schuett demonstrates that analytical and normative theorizing of all international-political reality, its nature, tragedies, and potentialities, requires a sophisticated theory of human nature. Developing a Freudian philosophical anthropology for political realism, he argues for the careful resurrection of the concept of human nature in the wider study of international relations "This book makes an important contribution to the burgeoning literature that is currently re-examining the essential characteristics of political realism. Although the link between political realism and human nature has often been made, this ambitious book provides the first attempt to explore the link in a detailed and systematic fashion. Through a close analysis of published and unpublished sources, Schuett demonstrates a surprisingly close relationship between some of the key realist thinkers, Morgenthau in particular, and a Freudian view of human nature. This controversial assessment has important implications for how realist thinking will be assessed in the future."--Richard Little, Professor Emeritus of International Politics, Department of Politics, University of Bristol, United Kingdom "This book fills an intriguing gap in the history of International Relations and makes a challenging case for rethinking the significance of both Freud and human nature for international political theory today." - Michael C. Williams, Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada Front Matter....Pages i-xii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Political Realism and the Strange Death of Human Nature....Pages 3-19 Front Matter....Pages 21-21 Classical Realism on Human Nature and Freud....Pages 23-54 The Human Nature of Post-Classical Realism....Pages 55-86 Front Matter....Pages 87-87 Human Nature and the Political: Criticism and Countercriticism....Pages 89-124 Human Nature, the Political, and the Virtues of Freudian Man....Pages 125-164 Front Matter....Pages 165-165 Resurrecting the Realist Man, Freud, and Human Nature....Pages 167-182 Back Matter....Pages 183-237 This book provides an important reappraisal of the concept of human nature in contemporary realist international-political theory. Developing a Freudian philosophical anthropology for political realism, he argues for the careful resurrection of the concept of human nature in the wider study of international relations. In the tradition of political realism, this book provides an important reappraisal of the concept of human nature in contemporary realist international-political theory