Gould, Harry
- Associate Professor, Politics and International Relations , Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs

Overview
overview
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My current research centers on the concept of Prudence. Long a term of political art and indeed Realist cant, Prudence has been astoundingly under-conceptualized not only by theorists of International Relations, but also Political Theorists. There is a corresponding paucity of conceptual history. The terms is generally used as if its meaning were self-evident; indeed it seems commonly to be used as a primitive term. Through a series of articles and eventually a book, I will situate and map the contours of the term's usage and evolution utilizing the tools of conceptual analysis and conceptual history.
Although Machiavelli is canonically the figure turned to in the discussion of prudence in politics, much of his understanding, of course, comes from Tacitus, and is an explicit response to the Scholastics, the Republican Humanists and ultimately Aristotle. Indeed, there is a surprising breadth of denotations of the term in the Realist canon. This suggests a fruitful line of analysis by drawing out the parallels between the manner in which Prudence is used as a term of art and Wittgenstein's notion of "knowing how to go on" (PI ¶151 & 179). Among Realists, Morgenthau also stands out; while emphasizing the Machiavellian lineage of his understanding of Prudence, he articulates an understanding of Prudence that bears remarkable similarities to Weber's Ethic of Responsibility.
Classically, prudence has been treated as an aspect of individual character, whether a skill or form of reason in Aristotle and Aquinas, a character attribute in Machiavelli and the Renaissance Humanists, a facility for means-ends calculation in Hume and Kant, etc. In each understanding, prudence was an intrinsic aspect of the character that was both relational and relative. In addition to drawing out the parallel with Wittgenstein's notion of "knowing how to go on", I argue that it is most fruitful to treat Prudence as - in part - a rule-governed practice. Pushing away from the idea of Prudence being a part of one's character, or a virtue, or an excellence, and building upon my earlier Wittgenstein-inspired claims, I follow Kant, Turner and Bourdieu in treating it as a practice.
research interests
- International Relations Theory, International Law, Ethics and Politics
Scholarly & Creative Works
selected publications
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Article
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2016Responding to #AllMalePanels: A Collage JUST ADD WOMEN! BEYOND A QUICK AND VISIBLE FIXFull Text via DOI: 10.1080/14616742.2016.1189673 Web of Science: 000383445100009
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2011Categorical obligation in international lawFull Text via DOI: 10.1017/S1752971911000091 Web of Science: 000312868100003
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2009International criminal bodiesFull Text via DOI: 10.1017/S0260210509008717 Web of Science: 000268763100010
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Book
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2018
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2018Tactical Constructivism as Methods: Expression and ReflectionFull Text via DOI: 10.4324/9781315109039
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Book Chapter
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2020How to do (differing) things with words World-making and (or) meaning-making. 203-214.Web of Science: 000544943100016
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2020Tactical Constructivism, Method, and International Relations Introduction. 1-8.Web of Science: 000544943100002
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2017THE ART OF WORLD-MAKING Nicholas Greenwood Onuf and His Critics PREFACE. XVI-XXI.Web of Science: 000449994900002
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2015What is at stake in the agent-structure debate?. 79-98.Full Text via DOI: 10.4324/9781315703299-4
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2014Rethinking Intention and Double Effect. 130-147.Web of Science: 000333290700009
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2013Cicero's Ghost Rethinking the Social Construction of Piracy. 23-46.Web of Science: 000321267600004
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2013Cicero’s Ghost: Rethinking the Social Construction of Piracy. 23-46.Full Text via DOI: 10.4324/9780203111550-9
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2009WHAT HAPPENED TO PUNISHMENT IN THE JUST WAR TRADITION?. 73-100.Web of Science: 000284954400004
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2008Pragmatism, legal realism and constructivism. 26-44.Web of Science: 000275190900004
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Other Scholarly Work
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2017FORUM: "A BRIDGE TOO FAR"? ON THE IMPACT OF WORLDLY RELEVANCE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Introduction: "A Bridge Too Far"?. 692-721.Full Text via DOI: 10.1093/isr/vix008 Web of Science: 000419602900007
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Works By Students
chaired theses and dissertations
Contact
full name
- Harry Gould
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publication subject areas
Citation index-derived subject areas the researcher has published in