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book: Words and Distinctions for the Common Good
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Words and Distinctions for the Common Good

Practical Reason in the Logic of Social Science
  • and
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2023

About this book

How social scientists' disagreements about their key words and distinctions have been misconceived, and what to do about it

Social scientists do research on a variety of topics—gender, capitalism, populism, and race and ethnicity, among others. They make descriptive and explanatory claims about empathy, intelligence, neoliberalism, and power. They advise policymakers on diversity, digitalization, work, and religion. And yet, as Gabriel Abend points out in this provocative book, they can’t agree on what these things are and how to identify them. How to tell if something is a religion or a cult or a sect? What is empathy? What makes this society a capitalist one? Disputes of this sort arise again and again in the social sciences.

Abend argues that these disagreements have been doubly misconceived. First, they conflate two questions: how a social science community should use its most important words, and what distinctions it should accept and work with. Second, there’s no fact of the matter about either. Instead, they’re practical reason questions for a community, which aim at epistemically and morally good outcomes. Abend calls on social science communities to work together on their words, distinctions, and classifications. They must make collective decisions about the uses of words, the acceptability of distinctions, and the criteria for assessing both. These decisions aren’t up to individual scholars; the community gets the last word. According to Abend, the common good, justice, and equality should play a significant role in the logic of scientific research.

Gabriel Abend is professor of sociology at University of Lucerne and the author of The Moral Background: An Inquiry into the History of Business Ethics (Princeton).

Author / Editor information

Gabriel Abend is professor of sociology at University of Lucerne and the author of The Moral Background: An Inquiry into the History of Business Ethics (Princeton).

Reviews

"What Abend is asking for in his book is the proliferation of different publics concerned with the use of words/concepts and distinctions. The invitation of his book is tantamount to saying: please don’t keep these issues private. Please don’t leave them in the hands of a few powerful individuals or groups and power struggles. In this sense, Words and Distinctions for the Common Good could be seen as a necessary and strategic playbook for all those who accept Abend’s invitation or who are already working in this direction from different perspectives in the social sciences and philosophy."---Matteo Santarelli, Quaderni di Teoria Sociale --- "An interesting read and an education in itself."---Michael J. Carter, Social Forces --- "Deliver[s] outstanding expositions of highly original and helpful arguments."---Christian Dayé, American Journal of Sociology --- "[A] fun and deeply thoughtful contribution to real-world social science research."

Topics

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    Frontmatter

    i
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    Contents

    vii
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    Abbreviations and typographic conventions

    xi
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    Prologue (or, will social scientists’ never-ending disputes over words ever end?)

    xiii
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  • First Act
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    1 Sandwichness wars

    3
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    2 The problem

    32
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    3 Nine ways to decline

    66
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    4 Technical FAQs

    98
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    5 Two activities

    134
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    6 Practical reason activities

    153
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  • Second Act
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    7 Word first

    187
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    8 Activity WF and its discontents

    211
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    9 Distinction first

    237
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    10 Conversation starters (fragments, sketches, suggestions, doubts)

    274
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    11 As a matter of fact

    308
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    Epilogue (so, will social scientists’ never-ending disputes over words ever end?)

    333
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    Appendix: Make Pluto Great Again

    339
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    Acknowledgments

    369
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    References

    373
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    Index

    427
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    A NOTE ON THE TYPE

    442
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
August 15, 2023
eBook ISBN:
9780691247076
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
View content
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691247076
eBook ISBN: 9780691247076
Keywords for this book
social science; social science methods; methodology; logic of inquiry; logic of social research; sociological theory; concepts; categories; key words; conceptual disagreements; classification; merely verbal disputes; epistemic values; philosophy of social science; sociology; political science; history; anthropology; sandwich; Pluto; Words and Distinctions for the Common Good; Gabriel Abend
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
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