Teleological Explanation in International Relations Theory

Differences between naturalists and their opponents gave rise to different methodological approaches to understanding social relations and phenomena. This diversity of approaches manifested itself, especially in the study of international relations, in the fourth debate. However, the common feature of all these perspectives arising from the specifications of modern science is neglecting an explanation based on a relationship between efficient and final causes. The question is that is it possible to obtain a more appropriate understanding of phenomena and behaviors in social sciences including international relations? The author claims that paying attention to this linkage, expressed as teleological explanation, would bring about a special kind of explanation which compensate the failures of a constructivist and interpretative understanding and mush contribute to the understanding and analysis of important issues in this realm including the causes of conflict and cooperation, on the one hand, and give attention to the evolutionary and deliberative dimensions of this relationship and the impact of ends on constructing the identity of factors, the depth and extent of the rules of the game, agency structure, action process and imposition of its moral and normative constraints, on the other hand. This article describes teleological explanation by using an argumentative method and studies its implications for the study of international relations and its impact on analysis in this field of study.