Erik Rasmussen, Niels Bohr and value relativism: on the occasion of Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen’s book about Erik Rasmussen

Abstract

In retirement, Erik Rasmussen (1917-1995), the founder of political science in Denmark, wrote a book about Niels Bohr’s philosophy of complementarity and political science. A recent portrayal of Rasmussen by Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen is silent about this contribution. Bohr’s philosophy and Rasmussen’s contribution contain important epistemological insights that help clarify methodological and theoretical problems in political science and other social sciences. Among them are the structure-agency question, relations between micro- and macroanalysis, and between cognitive and normative aspects of political science research. Particularly salient is Rasmussen’s adherence to the principle of value relativism and the limits on the possibilities for objective or value-free political science. The encounter with Bohr’s philosophy has clarified and strengthened Rasmussen’s position, and Lippert-Rasmussen’s critique of it is not convincing.