Open AccessThe idea of an ethically committed social science
Author(s) -
Leonidas Tsilipakos
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
history of the human sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.269
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1461-720X
pISSN - 0952-6951
DOI - 10.1177/09526951211020983
Subject(s) - demise , positivism , epistemology , argument (complex analysis) , sociology , relevance (law) , relation (database) , philosophy of science , neutrality , social science , environmental ethics , law , philosophy , political science , biochemistry , chemistry , database , computer science
This article presents a long overdue analysis of the idea of an ethically committed social science, which, after the demise of positivism and the deeming of moral neutrality as impossible, has come to dominate the self-understanding of many contemporary sociological approaches. Once adequately specified, however, the idea is shown to be ethically questionable in that it works against the moral commitments constitutive of academic life. The argument is conducted with resources from the work of Peter Winch, thus establishing its continuing relevance and critical importance for the social sciences, sociology in particular. Special reference is made to heretofore unappreciated aspects of Winch’s work, including within the groundbreaking The Idea of a Social Science and Its Relation to Philosophy, but focusing specifically on his later contributions to ethics.