Pragmatism as a Philosophy of the Social Sciences

Abstract

This article introduces and critically analyses Richard Rorty’s neo-pragmatism as a contribution to the philosophy of social sciences. Although Rorty has written little about philosophy of social sciences as such, it is argued that his overall philosophical position has significant ramifications for this subject area. The first part of the article sets out the implications of Rorty’s neo-pragmatism for various issues in the philosophy of social sciences, for instance, the doctrine of naturalism, the nineteenth-century Methodenstreit, the philosophical tenets of Marxism, and the relatively recent wave of post-structuralism. The second part presents a constructive critique of Rorty’s neopragmatist philosophy of social sciences. Although critical of some aspects of Rorty’s argument, it is argued that his stance could provide a base for a fruitful view of social sciences, aiming at enlarging human potentialities rather than representation.

Relational Economic Geography: A Partial Understanding or a New Paradigm?

“…It is important to avoid the trap of a false dualism between a balloon-like imaginative and innovative theory (freed from empirical constraints) and the dull leaded weight of empirical work that is forever tied down by conventional associations and duties. The danger is that this false dualism encourages a comfortable and conservative type of theory practice that has beset critical social science in recent years (Rorty 1998;Baert 1998). Instead of using empirical work to provide new insights, we are endlessly trapped in circular notions and use an empirical example of our object of study to confirm the value of the big theoretical framework.…”

“…Consequently, it struggles to discriminate between alternative economic theories and interpretations and has failed to deliver on its promise to provide midrange proximate theories. At worst, it tends toward a circular and tautological type of conservative theoretical practice in which the value of empirical research is judged by how far it confirms preexisting metatheory (see Baert 2004). Instead of continuing this overambitious and counterproductive quest by proselytizing pan-relationalism as a guide or research agenda for the subdiscipline, I argue here that relational insights should be developed within an evolutionary institutionalism that is informed by critical and pragmatic realisms.…”

A nurse-delivered brief health education intervention to improve pneumococcal vaccination rate among older patients with chronic diseases: A cluster randomized controlled trial

“…The health education intervention comprised of parts, a 3-min brief health education telephone intervention before and a 3-min face-to-face health education intervention during subjects' medical appointments. The telephone briefing and face-to-face interventions, designed using the framework of pragmatism (Baert, 2004), included learning the facts of the health problem (pneumonia) and intervention (vaccination), and then the older patients were guided to interpret the given information from their own perspectives (to consider the pros and cons of receiving or rejecting the vaccination) so as to make decisions on whether to take the vaccination. The 3-min brief health education telephone intervention focused on the advantages and side effects of PPV, and highlighted the vaccine was free-of-charge at the selected clinics at the selected time.…”

“…Globally, IPD had caused 1.6 million deaths annually in 2005(World Health Organization, 2012. In developed countries, the annual incidence rates of IPD range from 10 to 100 per 100,000 with higher incidence rates in those aged 65 years (20-80 per 100,000), whilst in Hong Kong the average annual incidence rate of IPD was 7.7 per 100,000 from 2000to 2004(Center for Health Protection, 2012.…”

Pragmatism and the Practical Relevance of Truth

“…Egginton and Sandbothe, 2004;Malachowski, 2004;Baert, 2005), as well as separate articles (e.g. Baert, 2003Baert, , 2004Baert and Turner, 2004), and a new journal entitled Contemporary Pragmatism.…”