Nature's War, War's Nature: Darwinisms in International Thought and Practice

In terms of research methodology, this kind of theoretical inquiry would obviously entail a qualitative approach - drawing upon pre-existing academic articles, books, theses, etc., within the areas relevant to my inquiry, and thereafter expanding the sphere of knowledge through my own interpretations, interventions and contributions. I am already aware of some of the texts and themes within this niche of the discipline which would inform my thesis. Patrick Thaddeus Jackson's (2011) The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations is particularly central, which evaluates the methodology of IR theory vis-à-vis the philosophy of science, and offers a strident defence of pluralism. More broadly, Colin Wight's (2002) chapter in Sage's Handbook of International Relations presents a sweep of questions relating to IR as a 'social science', as well as Wight's (1960) much earlier historical meta-theoretical intervention, 'Why is there no International Theory?' Broader yet still, Wight's own student Lucas Freire (2013) offers a useful survey of opinion in the academy on meta-theoretical discourse, in 'The potential and the pitfalls of metatheory in IR.' However, the attraction of my proposed inquiry is the gap within the existing debates, with the possibility of expanding the existing boundaries of knowledge a truly exhilarating prospect. Whilst there is an existing embryonic idea concerning the viability of Analytical Singularism, it is a concept which deserves a more precise focus. Not only would such research help ignite some vital inter-theoretical debate, but it also gets to the roots of pertinent and recurring epistemological and ontological questions which can often be neglected in the field. There is no doubt that my research proposal is a challenging project, but one which I believe is highly relevant to contemporary IR.