Nr. 3 (12) anul IV / iulie-septembrie 2006 - ROMDIDAC

Stepping back from a positivist theory of causality, Adriano Moreira useshis hermeneutic device along the lines of the Aronian Verstehen epistemologyin order to produce knowledge on the nature of choice and the moraldilemmas that go with it. It is a system of interpretation meant to bring light tothe normative structures constituting the social world and to make clear thatpolitical choices are often difficult and always carry with them a specific priceto pay. The method proceeds then through theoretical examples (exemplosde escola) whose dilemmatic character accentuates the dramatic nature ofchoice. There are opposing ethics of action at play and these bring differentimplications to bear both on individuals’ lives and on the life of politicalcollectivities. Every ethics of action is a world unto itself given that they aresubject to non-coincidental political finalities. A crucial exemplo de escola is theshipwreck, in which the tabula unicapax allows the symbolic rescuing of onlya child, or Albert Einstein, or a national flag, or a painting, the whole pointingtherefore at what is the omega point ascribing meaning to opposing politicalprojects. It does not have the same meaning, in terms of a life project, to rescuea child or Einstein from a shipwreck or to opt between a national flag and aRubens amongst the flames of a fire. There are different meanings, in termsof a global relationship project, inherent to the fidelity towards the state, thenation or a global originary community. The ethics of political action differs fromcase to case, which means that the basic value serving as guiding principle forhuman interactions does not coincide. In Direito Corporativo (1951), AdrianoMoreira clarifies the problematique in the following way:It has become a classic, in order to exemplify the transpersonalistapproach, to remember that, on the occasion of sacrificing the isle of Philetemple, on the Nile, to an irrigation plan, sir George Birdwood, who protestedagainst such plan, answered to the following question –« What would youdo, if alone in a house on flames, obliged to opt between rescuing a childand Raphael’s Madonna? » – that he would decidedly opt for the salvationof Raphael’s Madonna 23 .It is my argument that such exemplos de escola are meant to explore thepossibilities of the ‘political’ beyond the actual set of political relations and toexplore the ‘international’ beyond the set of international relations operative in aparticular conjuncture. It is then a way of critically exploring the possibilities andthe limits of human sociableness entangled in opposing ethics of action.CONCLUSION: ADRIANO MOREIRA’S IR THEORYAND GRAND THEORYConcluding, I would argue that Adriano Moreira’s IR theory draws basicallyon an intellectual exercise that, though rejecting positivism, is essentiallymodern, assuming the social world as a hermeneutic problem which is possibleto solve in the sense that it is possible to accede to the inner meaningsactors attribute to their actions and social interactions. Adriano Moreira’sIR theory proceeds then basically through the enquiry into the intelligibilityof international society and human sociableness at large. Accordingly, theintelligibility of the social world, and of international relations, depends on thepossibility of producing a coherent answer to the hermeneutic problem and ofproducing knowledge thereof. Adriano Moreira’s broad affirmative answer tothis problematique gives content to what is his generally modern approach toacademic International Relations. That is why, I argue, his claims on knowledgeEx Ponto nr.3, 2006173