Hegelian Philosophy and the Problem of Instrumental Reason in International Relations

Abstract

This study examines the enduring influence of G. W. F. Hegel’s philosophy on International Relations (IR) theory, tracing its roots from the Enlightenment to contemporary debates on order, reason, and sovereignty. It reconstructs how Hegel’s dialectical rationalism and his conception of the state as the actualization of freedom have shaped liberal, solidarist, and constructivist traditions. Hegelian notions of historical progress, ethical statehood, and recognition between states are shown to provide a foundational normative framework for theories of international society, constitutionalism, and cosmopolitanism. A critical rupture is then introduced through the work of Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, whose critique of the Enlightenment challenges the teleological optimism of Hegelian rationalism. Drawing on Adorno’s negative dialectics, the analysis shows that reason does not necessarily culminate in emancipatory order, but may reproduce domination, bureaucratic rationalization, and systemic pathologies in global politics. By contrasting Hegel’s affirmative dialectic with Adorno’s critique of dialectical resolution, this analysis views International Relations (IR) theory as a field where projects of rational progress face growing scrutiny over reason’s potential complicity with domination. This tension is further linked to the contemporary crisis of the liberal international order, where institutional erosion, hegemonic fragmentation, and authoritarian resurgence reveal the limits of both rationalist and critical paradigms when taken in isolation. A self-reflexive engagement with the normative stakes of reason remains essential for understanding the possibilities and limits of order in international life.