Scott Burchill

Human nature, freedom and political community: An interview with Noam Chomsky

For Noam Chomsky ‘human nature’ is a clearly defined concept, biologically endowed and largely independent of social and historical conditions. Because its deepest properties are genetically determined, for Chomsky the study of human nature ought to proceed in much the same way the functions of other bodily organs are examined. His ground‐breaking research into the language faculty, which he claims is one of the more accessible attributes of human nature, revolutionised the study of linguistics and cognitive science generally in the 1950s and 1960s. However, this approach has put him at odds with those, such as behavioural scientists and existentialist philosophers, who have long argued that physical and mental development should be understood as separate processes because of the overwhelming influence of environmental conditions on the latter. It also sets him apart from some recent post‐modern thinkers who deny the existence of an intrinsic human nature, arguing that our moral and political values are s...

Progressive Perspectives: the English School

The realist tradition in international politics paints the world as inherently conflictual and resistant to change, a place in which moral principles do not significantly influence state behaviour and where there is clear distinction between domestic and international politics. Cosmopolitan and more radical approaches imagine a world where progress and change are possible and necessary, in which the gap between the domestic and international is closed and where shared moral principles play an important role in governing international behaviour.

Conventional Perspectives: Realist Approaches

Realism is widely regarded as the most influential theoretical tradition in International Relations, even by its harshest critics. Its ancient philosophical heritage, its powerful and original critique of liberal internationalism, together with its influence on the practice of international diplomacy have secured it an important, if no longer dominant position in the discipline. No other theory has given as much form and structure to the study of international politics, especially to the sub-fields of Security Studies and International Political Economy (see Donnelly 2000).

Progressive Perspectives: Liberal Approaches

Liberalism is one of two great progressive philosophical traditions to have come out of the European Enlightenment, the other being Marxism. Its ideas have had a profound impact on the political shape of all modern industrial societies. Liberalism has championed limited government and scientific rationality, believing individuals should be free from arbitrary state power, persecution and superstition. It has advocated political freedom, democracy, human and constitutionally guaranteed rights, and privileged the liberty of the individual and equality before the law. Liberalism has also argued for individual competition in civil society and claimed that market capitalism best promotes the general welfare of all by most efficiently allocating scarce resources. To the extent that its ideas have been realised in recent democratic transitions in both hemispheres and manifested in the globalisation of the world economy, liberalism remains a powerful and influential doctrine.

Progressive Perspectives: Constructivism

In the last decade constructivist theories of International Relations (IR) have made a significant impact upon the discipline. Like Feminist, Postmodern and Green IR theory, there is no one constructivist position, but instead a variety of positions stretching across the theoretical spectrum from conventional-realist variants to more critical-postmodern perspectives (Hopf 1998 in Linklater 2000b; Reus-Smit 2001).

Critical Perspectives: Marxist and Anarchist Approaches

In modern political discourse, appeals to the national interest are usually made in contrast to claims by sectional interests — the greater national good rather than the domestic group interest. The nation’s interest is commonly regarded as the highest political value beyond which there can be no claim: the sum total is considered greater than the individual parts. Appealing to the national interest is also designed to confer legitimacy upon public policy, invoking a sense of patriotism and group loyalty which should not be challenged.

Origins and Antecedents

Before the ‘formula’ of the national interest, to use Charles Beard’s perceptive expression, can be placed in a range of theoretical contexts within the discipline of International Relations, it is important to recognise and understand its evolution as a term of political discourse. The intellectual origins and history of the idea of ‘the national interest’ are virtually inseparable from how rulers came to define their justifications for state policy.