ARNOLD BRECHT'S POLITICAL THEORY REVISITED Political ...

144 THE POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEWER
and "philosophy." He tells us that "philosophy" is "scientific" to the
extent that, in its efforts to give a comprehensive explanation of
"everything," it follows "scientific" rules of procedure or method
(15). And he stresses that the new "science" avoids "the establishment
of first principles a priori, the validity of which [have not
been] proven" (5). But the rules of scientific procedure are
"preestablished" (16)-t.e., prior to any "scientific" knowledge.
They are the pre-condition of any such knowledge and therefore
cannot have been "proven" scientifically. And yet Brecht
characterizes "logic and methodology" as "exacting scientific
disciplines" (16) and tells us that the question of "the interrelation
between philosophy, science, and theory is one of the fundamental
problems in the present crisis of scientific thinking." 7
In his later elaboration of the particulars of the new "science" and
"scientific value relativism" he leaves no doubt of his belief in the
correctness of the view that value judgments cannot be derived from
"scientific" knowledge; but here, in his explanation of the need and
purpose of his book, he appears to waver between the perspective of
the proponents of that view and the perspective of those who reject
it. This evident tension between Brecht the man and Brecht the
"scientist" is not resolved by a consistent application of the "two
hats" or "two coats" doctrine, the usual recourse of "scientific value
relativists" who believe that they somehow have something of value
to say about "values." Brecht perhaps faces up to the nature and implications
of that urge to a greater extent than many of his colleagues.
He is consequently less able to deny so glibly that his assessment
of the practical value of the new "science" and its possible products
or the underlying sense of one's own wisdom in such matters of
"value" has something to do with one's knowledge of the world of
the "is," gained through intelligent observation and deep reflection.
The latter half of the book represents the results of Brecht's efforts to
resolve this tension through the possible modification of the new
theoretic opinion concerning "values" and "science." However, that
effort is crippled at the outset by Brecht ' s apparent inability to question
that new view at a sufficiently fundamental level. Consequently
the range of possible solutions is arbitrarily constricted from the
start, thus precluding the possibility of any real success in his
humane effort to rescue Western civilization from destruction.
7. (14). Emphasis added.