Human Nature in Politics

The discussion suggests that politicians are most likely to acquire valid reasoning by avoiding oversimplification and using as many facts as possible about the human type, its individual variations and its environment. The account of biological methods says numerous facts about individual variations within a type can be remembered when arranged as continuous curves rather than uniform rules or arbitrary exceptions. The text cautions that attempts to give environmental facts the same continuity as facts of human nature are likely to produce error.

The discussion asks how far the shift from qualitative to quantitative methods seen in economics is possible in politics. The text states that some political questions can obviously be argued quantitatively, while others are less obviously quantitative. The argument holds that experienced and responsible statesmen think quantitatively even on the most complex political issues, although their methods are often unconscious.