The Fourth Debate: Paradigmatic Shift in the Theoretical Field of International Relations

Taking into account the framework of French Early Structuralism and the idea of epistemological shift developed by scholars such as Merleau-Ponty and Bachelard, the present article surveys one of the main conceptual themes of the present theorization in the area of international relations i.e., the possibility or impossibility of a paradigmatic shift and its formative causes. The central point of this article is that the present debate between the two rational and reflexive paradigms lies on the confrontation of two modern and postmodern philosophical metaphysics and episteme each of which is established on certain distinctive fundamental principles and constructs. This situation leads to different forms of rationality and objectification process. The outcome of this confrontation in international relations is the formation of a radical shift in paradigmatic field manifested in the fourth debate of international relations between rationalists and reflectivists. Philosophical–linguistic turn in the theoretical field and globalization in the practical area have highly contributed to such a shift.