Political Paradoxes and Puzzles C.2

The chief aim of this book is to demonstrate the benefits of a scientifie approach to the study of political phenomena, as a guide to political action. Such an approach has been increasingly called into question in recent years. But politics are too hard to be left to be managed, or to be articulated, entirely by politicians, however gifted or successful they may be. The problem is similar to the problem posed about the "logic' of scientific discovery in the natural sciences. Those who dis cover and expound these 'laws' of science are not necessarily able to articulate the methodology they employ. On the other hand, the intricacies of political processes are difficult enough to deserve com petent attention from specialized intellectuals equipped with sophis ticated tools of analysis which have been successfully employed in other areas of human endeavour.

Belief to the contrary is based on the notions (i) that political processes are trivial, at least if they are viewed from the angle of an intellectual as an intellectual (even if they are not trivial from the viewpoint of the intellectual as a citizen), and/or (ii) that the right thing to do in politics can always be decided from a few ethical first principles. Notion (i) sanctifies a disdainful, eagle-like, Nietzschean attitude towards politics by intellectuals.¹ Notion (ii) justifies intel lectuals making and preaching strong value-judgements, akin to religious dicta, to explain away what is good and what is evil in politics, Notion (i) appeals to the intellectuals' vanity. Notion (ii) tempts the intellectual to cultivate a childlike simplicity in matters political.