History And International Theory

This study is mainly based on the early exploration of the International Thought by Marin Wight.By analyzing his life experience,it will help to acquire the core sense of International Thought,illustrate the deficiencies and contribution with historical methodology and interpret the deviation of English School with Martin Wight in methodology and selection of multiple issues.This paper will discover the equilibrium point between History and International Relations to indicate the dilemma of modern International Relations.Moreover,for the domestic research,the study of International Thought of Martin Wight will bring a brand new horizon to the dialogue of History and International Thought;for the whole human destiny and living order,Wight had put forward his anxious worries which he named as tragedy and irony,and it demands more concerns and experience to his predication to avoid the two worries.In terms of epistemology and methodology,holistic analysis and objective criticism are given in this paper.For epistemology,his typical Eurocentrism is reserved and parts of his religious perspectives are accepted in this study,as for his enigma and prediction,there will be critical recognition and elective acceptance;for methodology,there are six ways in this paper including,comparison,analogy,induction,deduction,metaphor and historical analysis,etc.Particularly,in order to avoid contextual differences,metaphor here aims to restore his high perspective in Literature and History.For the perspective of logical construction,it begins with the life experience of Martin Wight,introducing his different academic characters related to different stages of life and then concludes his academic patterns including tentative period,progressive stage,climax time and contributions after death.All these process can be totally summarized into six chapters.The first chapter introduces the detailed life stages and presents a general look on his whole thought evolution.In chapter two,there is description on the origin of his thought,especially focusing on his evolution of religious ideas which prospectively forms the well-known three traditions and publicities to defend Christianity.The third chapter marks his initial turn to International Relations reflected in compiling the British Colonial Constitution,reexamination realism on WW-II and idea-sharing with A.J.Toynbee and all these behaviors lay a historical foundation to International Relations.Both the fourth and fifth chapters discuss his outstanding theories including,why there is no International Theory,power politics,the three traditions,the standard of barbarian and in these two chapters,there involves his original thinking and other reviews and critiques.The final chapter mainly discusses the values of his thought and brings about several extended issues for modern readers.In general,based on the manuscript and comments of the English School,this paper will restore the original face of Wight‘s initial thinking on International Relations,make a comprehensive evaluation of the defects and advantages and put forward more valuable discussions for modern readers.