Durham E-Theses Political realism, Freud, and human nature in international relations Schütt, Robert How to cite: Schütt, Robert (2009) Political realism, Freud, and human nature in international relations, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2085/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk POLITICAL REALISM, FREUD, AND HUMAN NATURE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Robert Schiitt The copyright of this thesis rests with the author or the university to which it was submitted. No quotation from it, or information derived from It may be published without the prior written consent of the author or university, and any information derived from it should be acknowledged. Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Dtirham School of Government and International Affairs 2009 ABSTRACT Political realism has enjoyed a renaissance in International Relations (IR). Recent studies have provided insightful accounts of its timeless virtues and philosophical depth. Although the concept of human nature has long been the philosophical basis of realism, it has now become a largely discredited idea. The thesis, Political Realism, Freud, and Human Nature in International Relations, provides an important re-examination of the concept of human nature in realist international-political theory with special reference to one of the truly consequential figures of Western thought: Sigmund Freud. The thesis questions whether human nature is really dead and also asks whether human nature ought to be dead. Examining a variety of theorists from Morgenthau to Mearsheimer commonly invoked as classical and post-classical realism's foremost proponents, the thesis shows that contemporary realism has not eliminated the concept of human nature from its study of world politics. Further, the thesis offers a powerful argument for the necessity of a sophisticated theory of human nature within realism, seeing Freud as offering the most appropriate starting point. This study will interest IR theorists and historians of international thought as well as Freud scholars. STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT AND DECLARATION The copyright of this thesis, which is under contract with Palgrave Macmiilan, New York, for book publication, rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published in any format, including electronic and the Internet, without the author's prior written consent. All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately. I hereby declare that this thesis has not previously been accepted for any degree and is not being currently submitted in candidature for any degree. It is the result of my own research. Sources are acknowledged and a bibliography is appended. Parts of Chapter 2 have been published as: Robert Schuett. (2007). Freudian Roots of Political Realism: the Importance of Sigmund Freud to Hans J. Morgenthau's Theory of International Power Politics. History of the Human Sciences, 20(4):53-78. Robert Schuett. (In press). Classical Realism, Freud, and Human Nature in International Relations. History of the Human Sciences. Durham City, 2009, Robert Schiitt ni ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my two doctoral supervisors, John Williams and Peter Stirk. Throughout, they have provided me with a stimulative climate, personal and academic freedom allowing me to pursue different things at different times, and with adamant support and invaluable advice. I cannot thank John and Peter enough. The last few years in England have been consequential. One of the many pleasures has been getting to know scholars whom I probably would have never met, had I not decided doing graduate studies. I wish to single out Chuck Beitz, Chris Brown, Anoush Ehteshami, James Good, Clemens Jabloner, Kurt Leube, Sebastiano Maffettone, Stephen P. Turner, Michael C. Williams, and Klaus Zeleny. Without implicating them in my argument, I thank them for their support and advice at various stages. I wish to thank my parents, Manfred and Ilona Schutt, for their continuing and generous support. I also thank my parents-in-law, Josef and Marianne Hitzenberger, for their share of support. Further, I wish to acknowledge Jenny Sadgrove, Harry Rowe, Wolfgang Schmidbauer, and John Switzer for providing help at difficult times. Yet I do owe my biggest debts of gratitude to my wife, Susanne. I will be forever grateful for Susanne's support, advice, tolerance, humour, and optimism throughout the last several years at Durham and the last decade. Without Susanne, I probably would have never written this thesis. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Introduction Chapter 1. Political Realism and the Strange Death of Human Nature 1 Part I. Is Human Nature Dead? Chapter 2. Classical Realism on Human Nature and Freud 20 Chapter 3. The Hidden Human Nature Assumptions of Post-Classical Realism 68 Part II. Ought Human Nature to be Dead? Chapter 4. Human Nature Criticism and its Vices 119 Chapter 5. The Virtues of Freudian Human Nature 163 Conclusion Chapter 6. The 'Resurrection' of the Realist Man, Freud, and Human Nature 213 Bibliography 228 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Introduction Chapter 1. Political Realism and the Strange Death of Human Nature 1 Is human nature dead? Ought it to be dead? Where's Freud? 2 The thesis: Plan, method, structure 14 Part I. Is Human Nature Dead? Chapter 2. Classical Realism on Human Nature and Freud 20 Introduction 20 Morgenthau and the animus dominandi 23 The 'cracked vessel' of Kennan 37 Lippmann on infantilism and nationalism 44 Carr on human nature and Freud 50 Niebuhr's struggle with Freud 57 Conclusion 63 Chapter 3. The Hidden Human Nature Assumptions of Post-Classical Realism 68 Introduction 68 Herz and the psychological origins of the security dilemma 69 The anthropomorphised international system of Kaplan 76 Waltz's structural realism and its conception of human nature 85 Offensive structural realism: Mearsheimer and human nature 96 The longing for prestige: Neoclassical realism and its human nature 105 Conclusion 113 Part II. Ought Human Nature to be Dead? Chapter 4. Human Nature Criticism and its Vices 119 Introduction 119 The six sins of human nature 121 Critiquing the critics I: The hidden complexity of human nature 136 Critiquing the critics 11: The hidden omnipresence of human nature 150 vi Conclusion 161 Chapter 5. The Virtues of Freudian Human Nature 163 Introduction 163 Freudian human nature and the demystification of political realism 164 'Man, state, war': Freud and the human nature of international relations 178 Freudian human nature and the balancing of reality and Utopia 194 Conclusion 209 Conclusion Chapter 6. The 'Resurrection' of the Realist Man, Freud, and Human Nature 213 Bringing the Realist Man 'back' in 214 Bringing Freud 'back' into political realism 218 Bringing Freud and human nature 'back' into International Relations 221 Bibliography 228 VII Chapter 1 . Introduction POLITICAL REALISM AND THE STRANGE DEATH OF HUMAN NATURE International relations may be the 'realm of recurrence and repetition' (Wight 1966:26). Yet something fundamental has changed in the realm of realist international-political theory. I mean the almost dichotomous division of realism into two camps: classical realism/neorealism (Keohane 1986c), human nature realism/structural realism (Mearsheimer 2001), or evil realism/tragic realism (Spirtas 1996). I will refer to this ideal- typical division as classical realism/post-classical realism. It signifies a profound rift that runs down the middle of realism. On the one hand, there are the Morgenthauians/Niebuhrians grounding the origins and necessities of Realpolitik in an animus dominandi or in human sinfulness. On the other hand, there are post-classical realists such as John Herz (1951) and Kenneth Waltz (1979) arguing that it is irrelevant whether human nature is good/bad, social/asocial, or peaceful/aggressive, for the security dilemma inherent in an anarchical international environment makes the Hobbesian bellum omnium contra omnes a primary fact of the relations among separate political communities. Save for a few exceptions, post-classical realism's socio-structural or third- image approach has eclipsed the human nature/psychological or first-image approach of classical realism. Few disagree that realism 'got rid of the first image' (Guzzini 1998:127). This thesis challenges the view that post-classical realist international political thought has no basis in underlying conceptions of human nature. Is human nature really as dead as post-classicals would have us believe? I will argue it is not dead. My argument that post-classical realism still relies on largely hidden assumptions about human nature naturally leads to the second main research question. If human nature is not dead, should we purify realism from the tutelage of human nature? Or should we bring 'back' the concept of human nature to the centre of realist international-political theorising? 1 will argue that human nature ought not to be dead. Chapter 1 . Introduction This thesis is not only concerned with the past and present of the concept of human nature (is-question) as well as with its future role in realism (ought-question). My theoretical concern with the past, present, and future of the concept of human nature in realism is tied to one of the truly consequential thinkers of Western thought: Sigmund Freud, a terribly understudied figure in International Relations (IR).