Concept

Realpolitik

Overview

Realpolitik ( ray-AHL-po-lih-teek German: [ʁeˈaːlpoliˌtiːk] ) is the approach of conducting diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly following ideological, moral, or ethical premises. In this respect, it shares aspects of its philosophical approach with those of realism and pragmatism.

While generally used as a positive or neutral term, Realpolitik has been used pejoratively to imply policies that are perceived as being coercive, amoral, or Machiavellian. Prominent proponents of Realpolitik include Otto von Bismarck, Henry Kissinger, George H. W. Bush, George F. Kennan, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Deng Xiaoping, Charles de Gaulle, and Lee Kuan Yew. Realpolitik is often contrasted with Idealpolitik, which is guided by moral principles or ideals, and Gefühlspolitik, which is driven by and appeals to emotion or popular sentiment.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

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None the less is it true that perverse ambition, once erected into theory, feels more at ease in working itself out to the end; a part of the responsibility will then be thrown upon logic. If the German race is the elect, it will be the only race which has an unconditional right to live; the others will be tolerated races, and this toleration will be precisely what is called "the state of peace." Let war come; the…
Henri Bergson, The Meaning of the War
States what Realpolitik is.
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There is something almost sinister in the desire to label the doctrine that the end justifies the means with the name of some one obnoxious school. Politicians, especially if they have to do with the foreign affairs of a nation and are called statesmen, almost uniformly act upon the doctrine that the welfare of their own country justifies any measure irrespective of all the demoralization it works. Captains of…
John Dewey, Human Nature and Conduct
States what Realpolitik is.
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Inasmuch, however, as no government produces all possible beneficial effects, but all are attended with more or fewer inconveniences, and since these can not usually be combated by means drawn from the very causes which produce them, it would be often a much stronger recommendation of some practical arrangement, that it does not follow from what is called the general principle of the government, than that it does…
John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive
States what Realpolitik is.
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Philosophers who discussed Realpolitik

Noam Chomsky

Related ideas

Place in the tradition

Part of Fascism.

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