Political analysis and
Political philosophy are two human activities engaged in by men striving to know the world. The problems
of
political analysis and political
philosophy rest on the problems concerning man's knowledge of the world. The paper shows that such knowledge is the result of attempts to describe, analyze, explain and interpret the actions and beliefs of men as they live in the real, material world. This essay presents an argument against that school which would draw a sharp distinction between two sorts of knowledge, each type being the result of a separate and distinct activity. According to this school, political analysis is concerned solely with the identification and description of political phenomena. The paper explains that the problems of political analysis are, thus, said to be "scientific" problems, directed towards the discovery of empirically testable scientific "laws". This essay shows that, despite its empirical orientation, political analysis is underpinned by a wider set of theoretical perspectives, such that analysis itself reflects elements of the observer's political philosophy. The paper concludes that political analysis and political philosophy are intimately connected; many of the "problems" are common to both. Each activity - analysis and philosophy - heightens the level of human knowledge.