From rhetoric to realism: The sophistic foundation of realist theory

The sudden demise of the Soviet Union and the consequent end of the cold war has drawn many scholars in the field of international relations to question the validity of its primary theory, realism. Many argue that realism was constructed on the basis of a particular set of historical conditions, and as such it is now no longer of any use in an era which is characterized by a profusion of new actors, norms, and concerns. This dissertation challenges this characterization. It argues that in its various incarnations realism, while on the surface reflecting the particular characteristics of the late modern era, is informed at a deeper level by an epistemological framework that has its basis in the doctrines of the sophists of classical Greece. This dissertation outlines and abstracts a sophistic epistemology, traces it through the writings of the protorealist political philosophers of the modern era, and highlights its presence and constitutive role in the writings of major twentieth-century realists. In highlighting this sophistic foundation, it is shown that the philosophical basis of realist theory far transcends the details of the cold war, and demonstrates that realism is not destined to be abandoned now that the particular historical conditions which it currently reflects have changed. Rather, this interpretation allows for the rearticulation of realism to accommodate the details of the post-cold war world.