The debate was started by Robert Keohane in an International Studies Association debate in 1988 and can be considered an epistemological debate, about how we can know 'things' rather than an ontological one, that is to say a debate about what we can claim to know.
Perdebatan ini dimulai oleh Robert Keohane dalam debat International Studies Association tahun 1988 dan dapat dianggap sebagai debat epistemologis alih-alih debat ontologis, yang berarti perdebatan tentang apa yang dapat kita klaim untuk diketahui.