Варіативність дефініювання терміна «імперія» у науковому дискурсі

Abstract

Досліджено смислові значення поняття «імперія» в сучасному науковому дискурсі, зокрема в теорії та методології політичної науки. Головна увага приділена аналізу змістовних ознак поняття «імперія», які існують у суспільних науках, а також існуючим труднощам вироблення єдиного визначення імперії. The paper investigates the meanings of the term «empire» in the contemporary scientific discourse, particularly in the theory and methodology of political science. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the concept «empire» in social sciences as well as to some current difficulties in providing its exact definition. The author emphasises that the analysis of different concepts is one of the most topical issues in the scientific discourse in general and in the theory and methodology of political science in particular. Each knowledge system requires the precise meaning of terms, judgements and inferences. One of such concepts is the word «empire». It has been used in social and political sciences for two thousand years already but only in recent decades it became the subject of scientific investigations. In general, this research shows that the interest in the term «empire» is a relatively recent phenomenon in political science associated primarily with the attempts to describe and compare some empires or explain the features and dynamics of international relations of the past and the present. A great variety of definitions of the term «empire» is considered to be the main reason explaining the difficulties in providing a single definition of this concept. On the other hand, the problem is also caused by the insufficiency of the analytical tools of modern social science. There are fundamental divergences in the approaches, primarily due to the differences between the «generalising» and «individualising» methods. Historians, being supporters of the first method, speak about the impossibility of creating the unified theory in defining the term «empire». The regularities revealed in the investigation of pre-modern empires are not always acceptable in the study of modern empires. According to the author’s opinion, the joint efforts of historians, sociologists and political scientists can help to give the definition of the concept «empire».