Existence of State as a Value Problem in Political Realism

Abstract

The article is focused around ontological status of state in modern political real­ism. It seems that possibility of moral evaluation depends on the existence of the evaluated object. Only the real objects can be fully valuable. The article demon­strates that theoretical abstraction of social world can function as values only by being the ends that have to be fulfilled. The notion of state plays crucial role in re­alist theory, while states themselves are basic units of international system. This puts the state in an ambivalent position. On the one hand realists view state as a mere theoretical abstraction without proper existence. On the other hand state acts as a value in analysis of statesmen motives. The author claims that realism, be­ing an “understanding” social theory, is stuck between scientific and political value systems. This problem is possible to solve by splitting the concept of state (and re­lated notions), based on the context of its usage.