Mellem politologien og John Rawls: En politisk teori, der er normativ og empirisk, historisk og politisk

Abstract

What kind of political theory should be practiced at a department of political science, and why? It should be one which is normative, empirical, historical, and indeed, most of all, political. Whereas the ‘empirically’ minded political scientist too often ignores normative elements of theories and concepts, the ‘philosophical’ Rawlsian rarely considers the empirical-causal specification of (new) universes and conflicts of value, or the preconditions for realising specific values. Neither the political scientist nor the Rawlsian appreciates the value of an historical approach to the study of political theory, except in the form of traditional history of ideologies, as galleries of standard political science exemplars, or as an ahistorical conversation of mankind. Historical-contextual studies of concepts, values, and arguments may create a valuable distance and a possibility for reflection in relation to the contingencies of the present, the plurality of things political—but also as regards certain marked continuities. Theories only become properly political in the field of tension between a critical concern with value, empirical relevance, and historical sensitivity.