De wetenschap der politiek - het vraagstuk van een definitie

Abstract

The definition of a particular science is necessarily based upon certain pre-suppositions — which often remain implicit — concerning the way to approach reality or that part of it which can be isolated as the subject matter of that science. Consequently, the importance of an inquiry into this problem lies just as much in the delimitation of what to study as in the question of how to study it. It is argued that far from being an independently existing entity, reality is to be conceived as a construction of man’s knowing mind. Knowledge consists of giving a definite and reliable form to sensory experiences through the formation of concepts and relationships in order to answer questions or to solve problems posed by man with regard to certain initially formed concepts. Reality consists of everything which has a status and function in such constructions. While sensory experiences as such are to be postulated as independently given, their content and form are not. Instead, these and our reality as a whole are the products of the long history of human evolution. Knowledge progresses through the solving of problems originated in an earlier phase, thus leading to another structuring of our experiences and the formation of a somewhat different reality. Thus science consists of the self-conscious construction of a particular reality serving the understanding of a well-defined problem. That problem is generated by, and derives its significance from, the reality of everyday life. Defining our science means to give an ’explication’ of ’politics’, as it poses a significant problem in everyday life, and is to serve as the starting-point for the construction of a particular political-scientific reality. Considering that human life implies the striving for the realization of values, which takes place in and is dependent on social interactions, this problem is then defined as the fact that authoritative allocation of values for the participants in such interactions will necessarily and inevitably take place. It is finally argued that it is both necessary and scientifically fruitful to give political science a wide scope: as regards the participants in the interactions (groups or individuals), the character of the interactions (international, state, or non-state) and the way in which allocations take place (institutionalized or not).