Political Science and the Quest for Scientific Ideal

Political Science and the Quest for Scientific Ideal

By Herbert A. Taberdo

Submitted by: Lady Diane Actub B3

Thesis

The issue that confronted the field of political science ever since, is the need to emphasize the science in the study of politics. It is still debatable up to the status quo. Herbert Taberdo in his article seeks to show the evolution of consciousness and curiosity for the “scienceness” of this particular field of study and the different perspectives that exist regarding this matter, not merely to show but also to build an analytical approach in each of the paradigms.

As clearly reflected in his title “. . . The Quest for the Scientific Ideal”, the article’s main aim as stated is “to have a modest attempt at examining the implications of paradigms and research programs, albeit inconclusive, to the quest for the scientific ideal by political scientist. “ ( Taberdo )

The ideas of Kuhn, Lakato, Marx, Rogow, etc. are presented on this aritcle. Taberdo did a careful proliferation of ideas from the both sides of the coin, the dilemma to whether political science should pursue the scientific vigor that it lacks according to Charles E. Merriam vis-à-vis Thomas Reed and company’s notion that it should abandon all its scientific posturing rather focus on civic education and activism. The Kuhnian paradigm with Kuhn emphasizing that only one paradigm could exist over time, a new paradigm that surpasses the old one as the old paradigm is known to fail and this was not accepted by some of his critics by saying that one can only make an intelligent choice if his given alternatives to choose from.

As Taberdo’s article portrayed it, the search for the scientific ideal of political science has already taken a quantum leap over the period of time.

Methods

Taberdo did an unbiased investigation for the topic. From presenting claims of reliable authorities and the contrast to some ideas presented. The method used does make sense for supporting the thesis of the article, it’s a clear transition of how the search for the scientific ideal begins to how it has now become the concern of a larger community of political scientist. It provides the coherent pattern of ideas making it more understandable by readers. It takes not just a superficial discourse about the topic, it is a sensible one. It did achieve the most important concern to whether it did meet the expected output base on the title alone. There might be a little ambiguity to some ideas which are just simply copied and cited neglecting to explain it profoundly.

Evidence of Thesis Support

The evidences he presented in support of the thesis are sources from political philosophers. It was a strong point of the