Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 40
MODERN AGE
from premises that are too narrowly biological. Is it not remarkable, Niebuhr observed,
that the analysis of the human dream world,
of all things, provides insight into a realm
of the human psyche (the unconscious)
dominated by "purely biological impulses"?
Niebuhr could no more resist a jab here
than Aron could: if it is indeed the case that
strictly biological impulses govern human
psychology, Niebuhr mused, then must we
not suppose that animals too suffer from an
Oedipal complex or from a debilitating sense
of guilt generated by the sexual longing for
one's parent? In the end, Niebuhr argued,
Freudian analysis unintentionally offers
striking proof that human behavior is ultimately composed of a complex compound
of ideal realities and natural necessities. On
the one hand, the id engages in "subtleties
and strategies" that have no part in nature,
while on the other hand, Freud insisted that
significant elements of the ego and superego
are unconscious. Freudianism thus "pretends
to explain all the complexities of man's spirit
in biological terms but fails to explain how
biological impulses should have become
transmuted into such highly complex spiritual phenomena."26
Like many classical realists, Aron was
troubled by the overconfidence inspired by
the sophisticated inner workings of scientific
models. Reviewing the literature on nuclear
deterrence, for example, Aron vigorously
condemned its penchant for abstract reasoning. Citing the work of Herman Kahn as an
example, Aron complained that Kahn "imagines, invents and describes with a minuteness
bordering on unreality dozens of situations
of conflict reduced to simplified schemes
and the decisions that suit those situations."
Although Kahn's scholarship is not "science
fiction," Aron added, "what other name but
'strategy fiction' could one give to this form
of literature?" For his part, Aron preferred
40
SUMMER 2014
to treat strategic issues as historically or as
concretely as possible. "When it is a question
of . . . the use of force or escalation," Aron
mused, "the analyst who wishes to be the
Prince's adviser must dirty his hands; I mean
he has to come down from the ethereal levels
of models and plans and get to know in their
totality the elements that make up the situation and in terms of which the statesman
will have to make his decision."27
T
he perils of an abstract scientific
naturalism for political thinking are
perhaps most clearly evident in Bradley
Thayer's recent efforts to graft biological
knowledge onto a theory of international
relations. As Thayer sees it, the chief merit
of Darwinian naturalism lies in its ability to
account for two human traits-egoism and
domination-and two social institutions-
war and ethnic conflict. All these phenomena, Thayer argues, are a direct result of the
struggle for survival. In the face of natural
scarcity and a hostile environment, human
beings, like animals, behave in ways that
are intended to maximize their "fitness,"
which is to say, their capacity to survive and
reproduce. The principle of fitness explains
all sorts of behaviors for neo-Darwinians:
the creation of social hierarchies (which
maintain the social order so necessary for the
pursuit of reproductive success), the development of mind (by which rivals are outwitted), and the emergence of war and conflict
(for the sake of life-enhancing spoils), among
other things, are all explained by the neverending quest for reproductive success, a
quest programmed into our genetic circuitry
by the forces of natural necessity. From this
perspective, Thayer observes, quoting William Durham, "war is one means by which
human beings 'may improve the material
conditions of their lives and thereby improve
their ability to survive and reproduce.' "28
Modern Age - Summer 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Modern Age - Summer 2014
Contents
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - Cover1
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - Cover2
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - Contents
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 2
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 3
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 4
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 5
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 6
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 7
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 8
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 9
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 10
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 11
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 12
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 13
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 14
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 15
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 16
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 17
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 18
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 19
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 20
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 21
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 22
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 23
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 24
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 25
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 26
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 27
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 28
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 29
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 30
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 31
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 32
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 33
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 34
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 35
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 36
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 37
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 38
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 39
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 40
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 41
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 42
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 43
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 44
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 45
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 46
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 47
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 48
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 49
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 50
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 51
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 52
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 53
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 54
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 55
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 56
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 57
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 58
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 59
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 60
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 61
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 62
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 63
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 64
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 65
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 66
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 67
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 68
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 69
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 70
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 71
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 72
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 73
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 74
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 75
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 76
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 77
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 78
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 79
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - 80
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - Cover3
Modern Age - Summer 2014 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2018winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014summer
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com