The Kantian Foundations and Scientific Future of Waltz’s Structural-Realist Theory

• In Event: Conversations about the International Order

Abstract

Kenneth Waltz, who played a central role in developing the academic field of international relations, left us with a mixed impression of his philosophical antecedents. On the one hand, Waltz mentioned so many thinkers that MacKay (2020) concluded he simply drew from a “grab bag” of ideas. On the other hand, towards the end of his life Waltz wrote and told interviewers that above all he was a Kantian (Beyer 2015, Viotti forthcoming). In this paper, I explain what I have learned about how Waltz understood and used Kant. I proceed analytically, testing four hypotheses about what we should be able to find in Waltz’s work if he was “really” a Kantian. I find strong support for all four hypotheses and conclude that Waltz was clearly a Kantian. In the conclusion, I explore the implications of these findings for contemporary international relations scholars. I argue that we should more openly explore, discuss, and teach the philosophical (especially epistemological and moral) roots and implications of our field. In particular, it is time to understand Kant’s critical philosophy the way Kant and Waltz understood it, which differs greatly from the idealist view that prevails among American international relations scholars. This view of Kant offers our best chance to understand and address significant contemporary issues such how the US and other states should identify and respond to new great powers and how states individually and collectively can provide for human security in the Anthropocene.

Author

• Karen Ruth Adams, University of Montana