IIt Does Matter II. The Tale of Neutrality. Unveiling the Normative and Epistemological Deficits of Political Science

Abstract

Our discipline suffers from an epistemological-normative problem and responds from a circular justification. It confuses methodology and epistemology; it justifies methodologically before a philosophical problem. We believe that before an unsolvable problem, there is the possibility of renewing the epistemological, teaching and normative frameworks of the discipline; moreover, if we review the methodological and epistemological debates, we will find that within the hegemonic neo-positivism of current political science coexists an epistemology of virtue. The first section deals with reflection and teaching on the normative and epistemological deficits of our discipline. Subsequently, Political Theory will be problematized in relation to positive Political Theory and its impact on the teaching of our discipline with no reference to the normative. Finally, the last section will explain the advantages of assuming certain normative positions and of operating within the frameworks of an incipient, but promising, epistemology of virtue.