The Philosopher as Synthesizer

Abstract

Social science is under pressbre from within and from without to demonstrate that its work is relevant for guiding practice and policy making in education and other social services. The current cuts in Federal funding for social science research provide added impetus to demonstrate more convincingly the relevance of social science research. The Yearbook chapters were illuminating for me in thinking about why the relevance is not more effectively demonstrated and in suggesting what steps might be taken to make social science knowledge more useful. Much of this review consists of the building of a tentative conceptual framework which suggests interrelationships between the nature of knowledge and the usefulness of knowledge. The framework evolved out of my own interest in synthesis and out of my need for some larger framework from which to view the Yearbook chapters.