Introduction: problems of causation in world politics

The Sociology of Knowledge as Postphilosophical Epistemology: Out of IR’s “Socially Constructed” Idealism

“…These should be utilized in pursuing explanations of the emergence, evolution, and (de)stabilization of our ontologies as well as of our theoretical categories and instruments, such as the gradual depersonalization of the concept of causality that accompanied the move from animal-aided human labor to mechanized technologies of production (Childe 1949, 22) or its grounding in the exchange interactions of the marketplace (Sohn-Rethel 1978, 54-56). By properly illuminating the social processes governing the mental processes of abstraction and ideation wherein philosophical categories and concepts originate, this approach would suggest very different starting points for IR scholars' recurrent discussions of such issues as causation, wherein epistemological differences among schools of thought often distract from the metaepistemological consensus that unites them (e.g., most recently, the Journal of International Relations and Development (JIRD) special issue on causation [Humphreys 2016]).…”

Realism, empiricism and causal inquiry in International Relations: What is at stake?

“…It also underpins a number of recent innovations in philosophically informed discussions of causality in IR that are not rooted in SR. These include Patrick Jackson’s (2011) demonstration that neopositivism is not the only properly ‘scientific’ approach to empirical and causal inquiry in IR, Ned Lebow’s (2014) concept of ‘inefficient causation’, and the investigations, in a recent collection on ‘Problems of causation in world politics’ (Humphreys, 2017a), into how causal understandings play out in contemporary world politics (see Betts and Pilath, 2017; Guzzini, 2017; Kurki, 2017), and into alternatives to the philosophically discredited covering-law model of explanation (see Humphreys, 2017b; Jackson, 2017; see also Grynaviski, 2013; Suganami, 2008). A puzzle therefore emerges: are critical realists right to contend that moving causal inquiry in IR beyond the search for regularities requires a philosophical revolution involving the widespread adoption of SR (Kurki, 2006; Patomäki and Wight, 2000)?…”

Ο Επικοινωνιακός Πόλεμος Και Η Πολιτική Επικοινωνία Ως Στοιχείο Της Διεθνούς Πολιτικής

“…Στους φιλοσοφικούς κύκλους οι βασικές συζητήσεις για την αιτιώδη συνάφεια έχουν επικεντρωθεί γύρω από τη σημασία της έννοιας, την πραγματικότητα των αιτιών και τις μεθόδους της αιτιώδους ανάλυσης (Kurki, 2007:362). Στις Διεθνείς Σχέσεις υπάρχει μια πληθώρα ερευνών γύρω από την αιτιότητα, τους αιτιακούς μηχανισμούς και τις αιτιακές σχέσεις που διέπουν το πεδίο των διεθνών σχέσεων (Bennett, 2013• Dessler, 1991• Humphreys & Suganami, 2017• Humphreys, 1986• King κ.ά., 1994• Kurki, 2006.…”

“…Μπορούν να αναζητηθούν, ωστόσο, στη σχετική βιβλιογραφία (βλ. Chernoff, 2002• Guzzini, 2017• Humphreys & Suganami, 2017• Kurki, 2006• Lebow, 2014• Mahoney, 2008• Wendt, 1998• Mearsheimer & Walt, 2013.…”