COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course surveys issues of epistemology, theory and method relevant to the conduct of inquiry in international relations, broadly defined. There are two primary objectives. First is to make explicit the choices about acceptable ways of knowing that shape any knowledge creation activity. Second is to empower class members in making choices, thoughtfully, clearly and consciously about ways of knowing that will shape their own knowledge creation activities.

33.704, "The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations" is the fourth core seminar required of doctoral students in the School of International Service. Admission is limited to SIS doctoral students. Under exceptional circumstances, other students may occasionally be permitted to take the course upon application to and with the written permission of the instructor.

USEFUL INFORMATION

INSTRUCTOR:

Name: John Richardson
Office: Hurst Hall Room 204D
Office phone: 202 885 1694
Home phone: 703 527 5497

Fax: 703 527 8970
Email: JRITA@EROLS.COM

OFFICE HOURS: Wednesday evenings, following class until 9:30 PM. Thursday evenings from 8:15 until 10:15. The customary sign up sheets are posted outside the International Development Office. In addition to signing up, you may call Jim Thompson at the ID office for an appointment (Extension 1657). Feel free to call me at home if you need to. Try not to call after 8:00 PM, however.
 
 

BOOKS AVAILABLE AT THE CAMPUS STORE

The following texts have been ordered for the course and should be available at the A.U. Campus Store. There will also be one additional book, to be assigned later.

There will be four written assignments. These will be discussed in one or more separate handouts. The weight that each will contribute to your final grade is indicated.

1. Definition of a domain of inquiry (theoretical or substantive issue area) on which you intend to focus your writing in the course. In particular, your definition should identify some cutting edge questions pointing to the next contributions that are of importance in this domain. Ideally, this should be an area in which you are considering writing your dissertation. (About 3 pages. Weight 5 per-cent.)
1. Research design for a contribution to knowledge in the domain you define, written from a normal science or applied science perspective. Ideally, this should focus on one of the cutting edge questions that you have identified. (About 10 pages. Weight 20 or 30 per-cent, depending on your choice.)
1. Research design for (or discussion of) a contribution to knowledge in the domain you define, written from a post-positivist perspective. (About 10 pages. Weight = 50 per-cent - positivist design weight )
1. Where I stand. How I envision myself as a scholar. This paper asks you to make your own point of view explicit regarding fundamental questions about the conduct of inquiry that we will be exploring during the semester. I envision this paper in the 8 to 12 pp. range, however you may write more if you wish. (Weight 30 per-cent).

To simplify the process of compiling a final grade, I assign numerical scores to written work and class participation. Correspondence between numerical and letter grades is as follows:

Please don’t get worked up about your "grades," however. It is particularly important that you not let concern about grades discourage you from thinking creatively and taking risks. You are now beyond the stage where any employer or epistemic community of professional importance to you is likely to be interested in your grades or even know what they are. In the future, what will matter is how your contributions to knowledge are viewed and, as a practical matter, the letters of recommendation that other faculty members and I are prepared to write for you. Please feel free to seek me out at the end of the course for a candid assessment of your strengths and weaknesses as a scholar as I might communicate them in a letter of recommendation or informal assessment to a colleague.

Please turn written work in on the date assigned. If you have a good reason for turning in a paper late, please request an extension, in advance.

You should have received a copy of The American University Academic Integrity Code. You are expected to be familiar with the provisions of the code and to follow them. If you have not received a copy of the code, let me know and I will see that you receive one.

1. CLASS TOPICS FOR 1999
2. PART I. Scientific method
1. 1. explanation, theory and the cycle of inquiry (January 20)
1. Introductory discussion
1. Questions that shape the conduct of inquiry
2. Reading
1. John G. Kemeny, A Philosopher Looks at Science (1959). Especially chapters 1-3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15. I would rather you read these chapters carefully than race through the entire book.
2. Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). Go over your notes from Professor Pasha’s Course
3. Related reading
1. May Brodbeck, ed., Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science (1968)
2. Herbert Feigl and May Brodbeck, eds., Readings in the Philosophy of Science (1953). (This volume may be more relevant to next week’s class since many contributors were members of or strongly influenced by the Vienna Circle)
3. Robert Holt and John Richardson, "Competing Paradigms in Comparative Politics" In R.T. Holt and J. Turner, The Methodology of Comparative Research (1970)
4. Russell, Bertrand, The Principles of Mathematics (1903)
5. The journals Nature and Science provide a good window on cutting edge scientific research in a variety of fields.
2. 2. positivism (January 27)
1. Introductory discussion
1. The Vienna Circle and Logical Positivism; Positive Theory
2. Reading: (This session assumes that you are familiar with the works assigned by Professor Pasha in his session on Social Theory and Positivism)
1. Joachim Schulte, Wittgenstein: An Introduction, pp. 1-96.
2. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus (Translated by D.F. Pears and B.F. McGuinness). Read Bertrand Russell’s Introduction and, to get the flavor of this unusual work, sections 1 - 4.128.
3. You might want to review the section on positivism from Richard Bernstein, The Restructuring of Social and Political Theory assigned as background in Professor Pasha’s course.
3. Related reading - for later. Spend whatever extra time you have this week inching your way through the Tractatus. Excerpts from the contributions of these authors can be found in the Feigl and Brodbeck volume.
1. Gustav Bergmann, The Metaphysics of Logical Positivism (1954)
2. Morris Cohen and Ernst Nagel, An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method.
3. Karl Popper, "Science: Conjectures and Refutations" in Susser and The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1959)
4. Schlick, Moritz, General Theory of Knowledge (tr. 1974)
3. 3. behaviorism (February 3)
1. Domain of inquiry synopses due. I may ask for brief oral summaries.
2. Introductory discussion
1. The Chicago School; the "behavioral revolution;" social psychology as a paradigm
3. Reading
1. Earl Babbie, Observing Ourselves: Essays in Social Research (1986). Our class discussion will focus on Babbie.
2. Bernard Susser Approaches to the Study of Politics, Chapter 1. Read through enough of this material so you know something of behavioral movement in and the names of some of the major players.
3. Review your notes on some of the more psychologically oriented theories of international relations from Professor Marlin Bennett’s course.
4. Related reading. The following are a very few representative works that are either personal favorites or that I regard as noteworthy.
1. Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, The Civic Culture (1965) and ed., The Civic Culture Revisited (1980).
2. Angus Campbell, Warren Miller and Donald Stokes, The American Voter (1960c, 1976). Laid the foundation for scientific voting behavior studies. See also the analyses of U.S. national elections from the Survey Research Center in various issues of The American Political Science Review.
3. Harold D. Lasswell, The Political Writings of Harold D. Lasswell (1951).
4. Charles Merriam, New Aspects of Politics (1931); Political Power: Its Composition and Incidence (1934); Public and Private Government (1944); Systematic Politics (1945)
5. Herbert A. Simon, Adminstrative Behavior (1945); Models of my Life
4. 4. systems science (February 10)
1. Introductory discussion
1. Facets of "systems thinking" and "the systems approach" [JR]
2. Reading
1. Herbert Simon, The Sciences of the Artificial, especially Chapters 1,3,5,6.
2. Donella Meadows and Jennifer Robinson, The Electronic Oracle: Computer Models and Social Decisions. Chapters 2 and 3.
3. Related reading. Again, these are mostly personal favorites from a voluminous literature. I have not included works that you have encountered in 33.701 or are likely to encounter in 33.703.
1. C. West Churchman, The Systems Approach and its Enemies (1979). By one of the founders of the field of operations research.
2. W. Ross Ashby, Introduction to Cybernetics (1963, c1956)
3. Karl W. Deutsch, The Nerves of Government: Models of Political Communication and Control (1963)
4. Jay W. Forrester, Collected Works (1975); Principles of Systems (1968); World Dynamics (1971)
5. James Gleick, Chaos: Making a New Science (1987)
6. Donella Meadows, et. al., Groping in the Dark: The First Decade of Global Modeling (1983)
7. M.D. Mesarovic et. al. Theory of Hierarchical Multilevel Systems (1970).
8. Norbert Weiner, Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine (1961, c1948); The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society (1954).
5. 5. reductionism (February 17)
1. Introductory discussion
1. Reductionist epistemology [JR]
2. The Research Program at the Santa Fe Institute
2. Reading
1. Murray Gell-Man, The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex (1994), especially Chapters 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 17-20, 21-23.
3. Related reading. Several readings in the above section are also relevant here.
1. Douglas R. Hofstadter, Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid.
2. Benoit Mandelbrot, Fractiles: Form, Chance and Dimension (1977). After this work came there were several popularized discussions of fractile geometry, most notably in Scientific American.
3. Marvin Minsky, ed., Semantic Information Processing (1968). See especially his essay on "Matter, Mind and Models."
4. Erwin Schrodinger, What is Life & Mind and Matter. (1967). Collection of earlier work by a well known physicist on some the issues that Gell-Man addresses.
5. Ilya Prigogine, Interpretations of Life and Mind: Essays Around the Problem of Reduction (1971); Order out of Chaos: Man’s Dialogue with Nature (with Isabelle Stenger, 1984).
6. James Watson, The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA (1980)
6. 6. oral reports on first research design paper (February24)
3. part ii. LANGUAGE thought and reality
1. 7. ordinary language; phenomenology (March 3)
1. First research design paper due
2. Introductory discussion
1. Ludwig Wittgenstein: Life and contributions
3. Reading
1. Schulte, op. cit., pp. 97-173.
2. Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (1958, c1953). As you will discover, this landmark work does not lend itself to page assignments in the normal sense. At a minimum, please read on the topics of language, language games, concept, mean and meaning.
4. Related reading .
1. Alan Janik and Stephen Toulmin, Wittgenstein’s Vienna (1996, c1973). A most useful discussion of the relationship between the Tractatus and Investigations.
2. Marvin Farber, The Aims of Phenomenology: The Motives, Methods and Impact of Husserl’s Thought (1966)
3. Edmund Husserl, Cartesian Meditations (1929); Transcendental Phenomenology and the Crisis of the European Sciences (1954).
4. Pears, D.F., Wittgenstein (1969). The author is one of the translators of the Tractatus.
5. Rush Rhees, ed., Ludwig Wittgenstein: Personal Recollections (1981)
6. Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation (1966, c. 1818...1859). This influential precursor of contemporary representational thinking was assigned in previous semesters and should still be included on your bookshelves along with Descartes, Kant, Hegel and Marx.
2. 8. language and thought (March 10)
1. Introductory discussion
1. Language disciplines: linguistics, hermeneutics and semiotics
2. Reading
1. John B. Carroll, ed., Language, Thought and Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf (1993, c1956). Note that this volume is in its twenty-third printing. At a minimum, carefully read the "Introduction", "Foreword" and the essays beginning on the following pages: 35, 51, 57, 65, 87, 102, 134, 207, 220, 233; 246.
3. Related Reading
1. Peter L Berger and Thomas Luckman, The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge (1966)
2. Noam Chomsky, Cartesian Linguistics (1966); Current Issues in Linguistic Theory (1966, c1964)
3. Umberto Eco, A Theory of Semiotics (1979, c1976)
4. Hans Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method; Hermeneutics Versus Science?: Three German Views (1988)
5. Charles W. Morris, Writings on the General Theory of Signs (1971)
6. Richard E. Palmer, Hermeneutics: Interpretation Theory in Schleirmacher, Dilthey, Heidegger and Gadamer (1979). This work and the authors discussed are also relevant to phenomenology.
7. Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, ed., Language and Learning: The Debate Between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky (1980).
8. Ferdinand de Saussure, A Course in General Linguistics (1969)
SPRING BREAK
 
 
3. 9. post structuralism (March 24)
1. Introductory discussion
1. Michel Foucault - life and contributions
2. Reading
1. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975, c1979). Pay particular attention to Parts 3 and 4.
2. Susser, Chapter 8.
3. Related reading
1. Jaques Derrida, Of Grammatology (1976); Writing and Difference (1978)
2. Michel Foucault, Madness and Civilization (1961, tr. 1965); The Archeology of Knowledge (1972)
3. David Macey, The Lives of Michel Foucault (1993)
4. Hubert L. Drefus and Paul Rabinow, Michel Foucault Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics (1983)
5. Martin Heidegger, Being and Time (1962, c1927)
6. Madan Sarup, An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism (1989)
4. 10. postmodernism and international politics (March 31)
1. Introductory discussion
1. The post modern debate in International Relations
2. Reading to be assigned later
3. Related Reading. Professor Goldstein will be addressing the postmodern debate more deeply in 33.703. Here are a very few selections that seem noteworthy to me.
1. Christine Sylvester, Feminist Theory and International Relations Theory in a Postmodern Era (1994)
2. Hayward R. Alker ad Michael J. Shapiro, eds., Challenging Boundaries: Global Flows, Territorial Identities (1995)
3. Hayward R . Alker, Rediscoveries and Reformulations: Humanistic Methodologies for International Studies (1996)
4. Michael J. Shapiro, Reading the Postmodern Polity: Political Theory as Textual Practice (1991); Violent Cartographies: Mapping Cultures of War (1997)
5. James Der Derian and Michael J. Shapiro, International-Intertextual Relations: Postmodern Readings of World Politics (1989). In particular, read the foreword and chapters 1-6, 13,14. This was assigned last year, but is now out of print.
5. 11. oral reports on second research design paper (April 7)
4. PART III. Synthetic approaches
1. 12. critical anthropology (14)
1. Second review/research design paper due
2. Background/introduction
1. From classical to critical anthropology
3. Reading
1. Dorinne K. Kondo, Crafting Selves: Power, Gender and Discourses of Identity in a Japanese Workplace (1990), especially Parts One and Three. (Thanks to Professor Pasha for recommending this book).
4. Related Reading
1. Mary Catherine Bateson, Composing a Life (1990); Peripheral Visions: Learning Along the Way (1995); With a Daughter’s Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson (1994)
2. James Clifford and George E. Marcus, eds., Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography (1986)
3. E. Adamson Hoebel, The Law of Primitive Man: A Study in Comparative Legal Dynamics (1967, c1954).
4. Karl Llewellyn and E. Adamson Hoebel, The Cheyenne Way: Conflict and Case Law in Primitive Jurisprudence (1941)
5. George E. Marcus, Perilous States: Conversations on Culture, Politics and Nation (1994)
6. George E. Marcus, Anthropology as Cultural Critique: An Experimental Movement in the Human Sciences (1986)
2. 13. critical theory (April 21)
1. Background/introduction
1. The Frankfurt school
2. Reading
1. Jurgen Habermas, The Theory of Communicative Action (1981, c. 1984). Translators Introduction, Author’s Preface, Chapters III, V, VI, VIII-3. Begin by studying the "Analytical Table of Contents" at the End of Volume II. Then read Thomas McCarthy’s introduction. McCarthy is a philosopher in his own right and interacted with Habermas frequently during an extended stay at the Max Planck Institute for the Social Sciences.
3. Related Reading
1. David Held, Introduction to Critical Theory: Horkheimer to Habermas (1981)
2. Max Horkheimer, Critical Theory (1975)
3. Johanna Meehan, ed., Feminists Read Habermas: Gendering the Subject of Discourse (Thinking Gender) (1995)
4. Russell A. Berman, Modern Culture and Critical Theory: Art Politics and the Legacy of the Frankfurt School (1989)
5. David M. Rasmussen, ed., The Handbook of Critical Theory (1996)
3. 14. constructivism (April 28)
1. Background
1. Constructivist approach to international relations theory: review and appraisal
2. Reading
1. Nicholas G. Onuf, World of Our Making: Rules and Rule in Social Theory and International Relations (1989). Particularly The "Introduction," Chapter 1 and Chapters 5-8.
3. Related Reading
1. Nelson Goodman, Ways of Worldmaking (1978); Of Mind and Other Matters (1984)
2. B.C. van Fraasen, The Scientific Image (1981)
3. Jonathan Potter, Representing Reality: discourse, Rhetoric and Social Construction (1996)
4. Peter Winch, The Idea of A Social Science and its Relation to Philosophy. (1958)
4. 15 .oral reports on stands and visions papers (probably May 5)
1. Papers will be due on the date oral reports are given.