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FAITH, PUBLIC POLICY, AND THE LIMITS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE *
Author(s) -
KNEPPER PAUL
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
criminology and public policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.6
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1745-9133
pISSN - 1538-6473
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9133.2003.tb00130.x
Subject(s) - faith , argument (complex analysis) , objectivity (philosophy) , public policy , government (linguistics) , sociology , epistemology , philosophy of science , causality (physics) , political science , environmental ethics , social science , law , philosophy , chemistry , biochemistry , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics
Recent interest on the part of criminologists in the “faith factor” has made possible a contemporary argument for faith‐based interventions in crime prevention: if faith “works,” then government should support faith‐based initiatives because in doing so, government is not endorsing religion, but science. Drawing on the ideas of Karl Popper, Michael Polanyi, and others, this essay reviews this argument within the framework of the philosophy of social science. The discussion reviews such concepts of falsification, structural causality, objectivity, and evidence‐based policy making to affirm the place of both faith and science in public life.