| Abstract [eng] |
Since the 19th century social sciences have been dominated by positivist thinking which is based on the Newtonian worldview and implies mechanistic, deterministic, materialistic and atomistic methodological tools of conducting researches. However, this Newtonian worldview can not explain the phenomenon of conciousness and thus leaves the scientists with unresolved body-mind problem. The solution has been recently offered by quantum theory which challenges the classical thinking by completely changing its ontology, or to be more precise, aiming at unifying social and physical ontology and laying the ground for the minded matter. One of the most recent and prominent scholarly books has been written by A. Wendt. With ‘Quantum Mind of Social Science: Unifying Physical and Social Ontology‘ he claims that conciousness is a quantum mechanical phenomena and in fact all of us are walking wave function. If that is true, then human society must also have quantum qualities. Even though A. Wendt offers a solution to one of the long lasting social sciences‘ questions, he leaves us without any explanations on how the theory might impact the discipline of international relations. Therefore, this paper ‘Quantum Theory in International Relations: Between Illusion and Science‘ concentrates on 3 main questions: 1) how quantum theory challenges positivist thinking in international relations; 2) how it broadens/narrows our current understanding of international relations, i.e. what is the relationship between quantum theory and other postpositivism theories; and finally 3) how quantum theory impacts international relations. The analysis of the challenges to classical thinking and comparisons of the differences as well as simililarities with the Critical theory, Postmodernism and Constructivism revealed that quantum theory is not yet a new social sciences paradigm or a valid independent theory, but could be used as a theoretical tool of postmodernism. The main reasons involve the lack of empirical researches, scholarly supporters and consistent epistemological logic. On the other hand, there are a variety of objects and discussions in international relations that can be analysed by the quantum theory: quantum entanglement through language, global language, global society and collective mind, terrorism, the newest technologies and their impact on global conflicts and communication, quantum diplomacy and others. Implementation of quantum theory principles – quantum coherence, superposition, quantum entanglement, wave and particle duality and uncertainty – into researches of international relations provides scholars with the perspectives of explaining changing nature of a global world, new unpredictable threats and global communication. |
