PSYCHOANALYSIS AND RESTORATION OF THE CONCEPT OF HUMAN NATURE IN POLITICAL REALISM

Abstract

The article is devoted to the restoration of the concept of human nature in the theory of political realism. The crisis of theory of international relations at the turn of the 20th and 21th centuries forced the followers of political realism to reconsider the main ideas of the structural realism of Kenneth Walz and to begin to study the internal factors of world politics. Thus, scientists need an intellectual basis, on the foundation of which new realistic ideas could appear. The author shows, that some adequate ways to solve this problem is to return to the classical concept of “human nature”. The article uses Robert Sсhuett's book “Political Realism, Freud and Human Nature in International Relations”. Psychoanalytic understanding of this problem makes it possible to clarify key ideas of political realism, including the expansionist behavior of states on the world stage, their desire for security, and the negative attitude of realists towards the use of universal values in international relations. As shown in the article, the key authors of realism were not only influenced by Freud's ideas, but also used his legacy to create their own theory. For example, the idea of the founding father of political realism Hans Morgenthau about the egoistic nature of man is based on the psychoanalytic understanding of love and destructive aspirations. The reasoning of classical realists about the causes and role of nationalism in the formation of international relations is also in close connection with ideas of psychoanalysis. Representation of realists about the elitist essence of power practically repeats Freud's words about the irrationality of the masses and the key role of enlightened rulers.