Scientific Realism and International Relations

Critical and scientific realism have emerged as important perspectives on international relations in recent years. The attraction of these approaches lies in the claim that they can transcend the positivism vs. postpositivism divide. This book demonstrates the vitality of this approach and the difference that "realism" makes.

JONATHAN JOSEPH is Reader in Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK. He has published widely on scientific realism. His books include Marxism and Social Theory and Realism, Philosophy and Social Science (with Kathryn Dean, John Roberts and Colin Wight).

COLIN WIGHT is Professor of International Relations at the University of Exeter, UK, and Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of International Relations. His research focuses on the relationships between International Relations Theory, Social Theory, and the Philosophy of Social Science. He has published widely on these topics, including a book entitled Agents, Structures and International Relations: Politics as Ontology.