Idee i instytucje
Ideas and institutions

Nevil Johnson and his vision of the science of politics

Author(s): Maciej Kassner
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Political Theory, Political Sciences, Security and defense
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: ideas; institutions; political science; ontology; interpretations; Nevil Johnson
Summary/Abstract: The article reexamines the notion of political science proposed by Nevil Johnson. According to Johnson, ideas and institutions are the fundamental concepts of political analysis. Studying politics explores how a given community solved the problem of institutionalising political order. Thus political thinking is always normative and contextual. Nevil Johnson criticises the mainstream vision of empirical political science as a discipline concerned mainly with formulating and testing hypotheses. In his view, this vision assumes false ontology based on a mistaken belief that the domain of politics is subject to general laws. From a conservative point of view, this constitutes a case of metaphysical madness, a tendency to replace the knowledge of concrete circumstances with abstract principles. Although Johnson’s critique of mainstream political science is not without merit, the article remains sceptical about prospects for formulating a general ontology of political experience. It suggests, instead, adopting a hermeneutical approach to understanding different ontological visions.

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