Should scientific realists be platonists?

Enhanced Indispensability Arguments (EIA) claim that Scientific Realists are committed to the existence of mathematical entities due to their reliance on Inference to the Best Explana- tion (IBE). Our central question concerns this purported parity of reasoning: do people who defend the EIA make an appropriate use of the resources of Scientific Realism (in particular, IBE) to achieve platonism? (§2) We argue that just because a variety of different inferential strategies can be employed by Scientific Realists does not mean that ontological conclusions concerning which things we should be Scientific Realists about are arrived at by any inferen- tial route which eschews causes (§3), and nor is there any direct pressure for Scientific Real- ists to change their inferential methods (§4). We suggest that in order to maintain inferential parity with Scientific Realism, proponents of EIA need to give details about how and in what way the presence of mathematical entities directly contribute to explanations (§5).

Friedman Economic Policies, Social Exclusion and Crime: Toward a Gendered Left Realist Subcultural Theory.

Left realists contend that people lacking legitimate means of solving the problem of relative deprivation may come into contact with other frustrated disenfranchised people and form subcultures, which in turn, encourage criminal behaviors. Absent from this theory is an attempt to address how, today, subcultural development in North America and elsewhere is heavily shaped simultaneously by the recent destructive consequences of right-wing Friedman or Chicago School economic policies and marginalized men's attempts to live up to the principles of hegemonic masculinity. The purpose of this paper, then, is to offer a new left realist theory that emphasizes the contribution of these two key determinants.

A left realist approach to antifeminist fathers’ rights groups

Despite earlier critiques of left realists’ failure to adequately address feminist concerns, recent left realist theorizing and empirical research have made valuable contributions to the understanding of woman abuse and other forms of gendered violence. Left realism has further potential to contribute to the criminological understanding of woman abuse and its contributing socioeconomic and cultural contexts. This article describes left realists’ early efforts to include gender in analyses of crime. It then summarizes feminist critiques of left realism and reviews the work that has responded to them. Drawing upon two prominent strands of feminist left realist theorizing about violence and gender, the paper proposes a preliminary left realist theory of antifeminist fathers’ rights group activism. It then outlines a provisional research agenda on antifeminist fathers’ rights groups, and proposes short and long term policies and practices to enhance the safety of abused mothers and their children following divorce or separation.

"Heroes" and "Villains" of World History across Cultures

Emergent properties of global political culture were examined using data from the World History Survey (WHS) involving 6,902 university students in 37 countries evaluating 40 figures from world history. Multidimensional scaling and factor analysis techniques found only limited forms of universality in evaluations across Western, Catholic/Orthodox, Muslim, and Asian country clusters. The highest consensus across cultures involved scientific innovators, with Einstein having the most positive evaluation overall. Peaceful humanitarians like Mother Theresa and Gandhi followed. There was much less cross-cultural consistency in the evaluation of negative figures, led by Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein. After more traditional empirical methods (e.g., factor analysis) failed to identify meaningful cross-cultural patterns, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to identify four global representational profiles: Secular and Religious Idealists were overwhelmingly prevalent in Christian countries, and Political Realists were common in Muslim and Asian countries. We discuss possible consequences and interpretations of these different representational profiles.

Polaridade regional e percepção de ameaças: comparando as políticas de defesa de África do Sul, Brasil e Índia

Tendo como pressuposto teórico a regionalização das questões de segurança internacional no pós Guerra Fria, esta dissertação objetiva realizar uma análise comparativa da Política de Defesa de três potências regionais, quais sejam, África do Sul, Brasil e Índia, identificando percepção de ameaça no âmbito das suas políticas de defesa. Para fazê-lo, fez-se necessário ter em consideração as capacidades materiais (inspirado no neorrealismo e realismo neoclássico), e os aspectos relativos à percepção de ameaças, numa dimensão ampliada dos estudos de segurança (inspirados pela Escola de Copenhague). Com isso em mente, este trabalho lida com a literatura sobre a segurança regional e as potências regionais, a qual se baseia em vários pressupostos teóricos Neorrealistas, Realistas Neoclássicos e da Escola de Copenhague. A proposição heurística que guia este trabalho é, dado que a percepção de ameaça externa vem de uma leitura, feita pelo Estado, do seu contexto regional, um Estado com baixo nível de ameaças externas tende a vincular de forma mais intensiva de segurança com o desenvolvimento. As fontes utilizadas são dados quantitativos (Composite Index of National Capabilities do projeto Correlates of War), que permitem avaliar a distribuição de capacidades materiais em três regiões (América do Sul, África do Sul, e no Sul da Ásia) e, principalmente, as políticas declaratórias de defesa, os documentos que carregam percepção dos Estados em relação à segurança. Na comparação dos casos, dois aspectos são o foco para a análise do discurso de segurança: as percepções de segurança sobre as suas regiões, o nexo entre segurança e desenvolvimento.

Critical realism and causal analysis in international relations

Kurki, M. (2007). Critical realism and causal analysis in international relations. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 35 (2), 361-378. RAE2008

Machiavelli’s Walls: The Legacy of Realism in International Relations Theory

In this paper we argue that Niccolò Machiavelli has little to do with Realism in International Relations theory. By concentrating, as Machaivelli did, on the walls that define political relations—both inside and outside the polity—we find his insights deeply rooted in the specific political contexts of Sixteenth century Italy. Others may wish to generalize from them, but Machiavelli did not. In fact, as we show, Machiavelli was mindful of the difficulties of generalizing about walls and acknowledged the dangers political actors faced in navigating between the internal and external walls of the polity. We examine the geopolitical contours of Machiavelli’s walls and seek to demonstrate how morality is present in these historical spaces. In contrast to Realists, Machiavelli was ready and willing to make ethical judgments. We argue that theorists of international politics should exercise care in reaching for Machiavelli as the iconic thinker for making sense of anarchy in world politics. This article concludes by suggesting that the ideology of Machiavellianism has obscured deeper understanding of the particular contexts of Machiavelli’s own world.

El Sitio de Cartagena por parte de Pablo Morillo como escenario del choque de legitimidades entre la monarquía española y los movimientos independentistas de la Nueva Granada

Explica por qué se impuso el general Pablo Morillo sobre Cartagena cuando ésta era prácticamente impenetrable. Analiza como el desorden político-administrativo de los criollos independentistas y a las facciones de criollos realistas llevaron a este resultado adverso.

Análisis del impacto del tamaño de los activos en la cuenta de resultados mediante la utilización de espacios de fase y análisis de recurrencia

Los resultados financieros de las organizaciones son objeto de estudio y análisis permanente, predecir sus comportamientos es una tarea permanente de empresarios, inversionistas, analistas y académicos. En el presente trabajo se explora el impacto del tamaño de los activos (valor total de los activos) en la cuenta de resultados operativos y netos, analizando inicialmente la relación entre dichas variables con indicadores tradicionales del análisis financiero como es el caso de la rentabilidad operativa y neta y con elementos de estadística descriptiva que permiten calificar los datos utilizados como lineales o no lineales. Descubriendo posteriormente que los resultados financieros de las empresas vigiladas por la Superintendencia de Sociedades para el año 2012, tienen un comportamiento no lineal, de esta manera se procede a analizar la relación de los activos y los resultados con la utilización de espacios de fase y análisis de recurrencia, herramientas útiles para sistemas caóticos y complejos. Para el desarrollo de la investigación y la revisión de la relación entre las variables de activos y resultados financieros se tomó como fuente de información los reportes financieros del cierre del año 2012 de la Superintendencia de Sociedades (Superintendencia de Sociedades, 2012).

Participación de canvas en la creación de una red de defensa transnacional en torno a la acción política noviolenta como mecanismo de acción colectiva. período 2004-2013

Esta investigación se propone analizar la participación de CANVAS en la creación de Redes de Defensa Transnacional en torno a la Acción Política Noviolenta como mecanismo de Acción Colectiva. Tomando como marco temporal el decenio 2004-2013, el objetivo de este proyecto es el de identificar puntualmente aquellos factores exógenos y endógenos, que le permitieron a esta ONG proyectarse a nivel internacional e incidir, desde un papel terciario, en la constante reconfiguración del Sistema Internacional de la Post Guerra Fría. Aportes teóricos de académicos como Celestino del Arenal al explicar esta Nueva Sociedad Mundial permitirán evidenciar aquellos factores externos que densificaron la capacidad de acción de las Redes de Defensa Transnacional, mientras que aportes de Kathryn Sikkink y Margaret Keck permitirán comprobar la complejidad de los factores internos que potenciaron el grado de incidencia de CANVAS en este campo.

Making sense of survival: refining the treatment of state preferences in neorealist theory

The assumption that ‘states' primary goal is survival’ lies at the heart of the neorealist paradigm. A careful examination of the assumption, however, reveals that neorealists draw upon a number of distinct interpretations of the ‘survival assumption’ that are then treated as if they are the same, pointing towards conceptual problems that surround the treatment of state preferences. This article offers a specification that focuses on two questions that highlight the role and function of the survival assumption in the neorealist logic: (i) what do states have to lose if they fail to adopt self-help strategies?; and (ii) how does concern for relevant losses motivate state behaviour and affect international outcomes? Answering these questions through the exploration of governing elites' sensitivity towards regime stability and territorial integrity of the state, in turn, addresses the aforementioned conceptual problems. This specification has further implications for the debates among defensive and offensive realists, potential extensions of the neorealist logic beyond the Westphalian states, and the relationship between neorealist theory and policy analysis.

Beyond description to pattern: The contribution of Batesonian epistemology to critical realist research

This paper proposes a limitation to epistemological claims to theory building prevalent in critical realist research. While accepting the basic ontological and epistemological positions of the perspective as developed by Roy Bhaskar, it is argued that application in social science has relied on sociological concepts to explain the underlying generative mechanisms, and that in many cases this has been subject to the effects of an anthropocentric constraint. A novel contribution to critical realist research comes from the work and ideas of Gregory Bateson. This is in service of two central goals of critical realism, namely an abductive route to theory building and a commitment to interdisciplinarity. Five aspects of Bateson’s epistemology are introduced: (1) difference, (2) logical levels of abstraction, (3) recursive causal loops, (4) the logic of metaphor, and (5) Bateson’s theory of mind. The comparison between Bateson and Bhaskar’s ideas is seen as a form of double description, illustrative of the point being raised. The paper concludes with an appeal to critical realists to start exploring the writing and outlook of Bateson himself.

Playing Kant at the Court of King Arthur

This article contrasts the sense in which those whom Bernard Williams called ‘political realists’ and John Rawls are committed to the idea that political philosophy has to be distinctively political. Distinguishing the realist critique of political moralism from debates over ideal and non-ideal theory, it is argued that Rawls is more realist than many realists realise, and that realists can learn more about how to make a distinctively political vision of how our life together should be organised from his theorising, although it also points to a worrying tendency among Rawlsians to reach for inappropriately moralised arguments. G. A. Cohen’s advocacy of socialism and the second season of HBO’s The Wire are used as examples to illustrate these points.

The real value of equality

This paper investigates how political theorists and philosophers should understand egalitarian political demands in light of the increasingly important realist critique of much of contemporary political theory and philosophy. It suggests, first, that what Martin O'Neill has called non-intrinsic egalitarianism is, in one form at least, a potentially realistic egalitarian political project and second, that realists may be compelled to impose an egalitarian threshold on state claims to legitimacy under certain circumstances. Non-intrinsic egalitarianism can meet realism’s methodological requirements because it does not have to assume an unavailable moral consensus since it can focus on widely acknowledged bads rather than contentious claims about the good. Further, an appropriately formulated non-intrinsic egalitarianism may be a minimum requirement of an appropriately realistic claim by a political order to authoritatively structure some of its members' lives. Without at least a threshold set of egalitarian commitments, a political order seems unable to be transparent to many of its worse off members under a plausible construal of contemporary conditions.

Om du vill ha fred, förbered dig på krig : en studie i den militära styrkans betydelse

Denna uppsats kretsar kring att pröva hur en av de främsta företrädarna för den realistiska skolan, förklarar de amerikanska anfallen mot Afghanistan (2001) och Irak (2003). Hans namn är Robert Kagan och uppsatsen syftar till ge en realists tolkning till varför USA handlade som man gjorde. Man måste därför försöka uppfatta världen utifrån USA:s horisont och försöka tolka samt sätta sig in i den amerikanska positionen på den internationella arenan. Problemformuleringarna kretsar kring att få insikt i grundstenarna i Kagans teori, samt hur Kagans grundsyn skiljer sig gentemot den idealistiska. Vidare hur USA:s militära styrka, enligt Kagan, påverkar dess beteende på den internationella arenan, men även hur Kagan ser på USA:s kommande globala engagemang. Robert Kagans bok Om paradiset och makten USA och Europa i den nya världsordningen kommer att utgöra fundamentet i studien. I boken kretsar bl.a. Kagans resonemang kring att USA och Europa distanserar från varandra, men även kring militär styrka. Därför ger boken oss en väldigt bra bild av USA:s position på den internationella arenan. Kagans resonemang vävs sedan ihop med kritik, realism, idealism och geopolitik. Slutsatsen blir att grundstenarna i Kagans resonemang återfinns i den s.k. realismteorin, men även till viss del i geopolitiken. Han sätter stor vikt vid militära medel och ser staterna som de mest betydelsefulla aktörerna, samt ser världen som allmänt hotfull. Han realistiska resonemang grundas på amerikanska spelregler och ledarskap på den internationella arenan. Skillnaden mellan Kagans grundsyn och den idealistiska bottnar främst i idealisternas fokusering på integration mellan stater. Vidare att de sätter tilltro till internationell rätt, samt har ett mer multilateralt förhållningssätt till omvärlden. Kagan menar vidare att starka stater är mer villiga att använda tvång och hot i internationella relationer. De bedömer dessutom hot och risker annorlunda jämfört med svagare stater. Enligt Kagan beter sig USA som en internationell sheriff på den globala arenan och beteendet bottnar i militär styrka. Vidare anser Kagan att USA har haft samma kurs i flera århundraden. USA har expanderat in i Europa och Asien och aldrig dragit sig tillbaka. Man hade redan före den 11 september 2001 fokuserat på Kina som motspelare. Dessutom, menar Kagan, att USA varit villiga att satsa på ny militär teknik, vilken kan förändra krigföringen. Han skriver även att både Clinton och Bushadministrationen varit grundade på att USA är en nödvändig nation, samt att amerikaner vill beskydda och sprida det liberala systemet i världen.