Aesthetics and human flourishing in the good society: Perspectives from applied social science and critical theory on the social value of aesthetic practices

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Halsall
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Good Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
Applied Social Science

Feudal Europe, 800–1300: communal discourse and conflictual practices

1992 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Science ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Structural Theory ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Fundamental Significance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Scientific Argument

The discipline of international relations faces a new debate of fundamental significance. After the realist challenge to the pervasive idealism of the interwar years and the social scientific argument against realism in the late 1950s, it is now the turn of critical theorists to dispute the established paradigms of international politics, having been remarkably successful in several other fields of social inquiry. In essence, critical theorists claim that all social reality is subject to historical change, that a normative discourse of understandings and values entails corresponding practices, and that social theory must include interpretation and dialectical critique. In international relations, this approach particularly critiques the ahistorical, scientific, and materialist conceptions offered by neorealists. Traditional realists, by contrast, find a little more sympathy in the eyes of critical theorists because they join them in their rejection of social science and structural theory. With regard to liberal institutionalism, critical theorists are naturally sympathetic to its communitarian component while castigating its utilitarian strand as the accomplice of neorealism. Overall, the advent of critical theory will thus focus the field of international relations on its “interparadigm debate” with neorealism.

The Position of Women

2018 ◽  
pp. 54-64
Author(s):  
Richard M. Titmuss
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Vital Statistics ◽  
Social Position ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Women's Suffrage ◽  
Suffrage Movement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Applied Social Science

This chapter talks about the satisfaction of recalling some of the achievements of the Women's Suffrage Movement in Britain, especially in a period when the possibilities of social progress and the practicability of applied social science are being questioned. The development of the personal, legal, and political liberties of half the population of the country within the span of less than eighty years stands as one of the supreme examples of consciously directed social change. The chapter then draws together some of the vital statistics of birth, marriage, and death for the light they shed on the changes that have taken place in the social position of women. Then, it suggests that the accumulated effect of these changes now presents the makers of social policy with some new and fundamental problems.

Integrating the Social Sciences

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Calhoun
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Academic Departments ◽  
World War ◽  
Intellectual Work ◽  
The Social ◽  
Applied Social Science ◽  
Oriented Research

Distinctions among social science disciplines are historically forged and to some extent intellectually arbitrary. Connecting them is therefore crucial to fully addressing many important intellectual and practical concerns. This chapter analyzes three of the most important movements to shape interdisciplinary social science since World War II: area studies, quantitative methods, and problem-oriented research. All three were influenced by funding, by social change, and by desires to make knowledge practically useful. All three influenced basic as well as applied social science. And all three remained approaches that crosscut the disciplinary structure of social science rather than becoming the bases for new disciplines or academic departments. They remain important in themselves and as exemplars of interdisciplinary intellectual work and influence.

Toward a critical theory of globalization

2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Bohman
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practical Synthesis ◽  
Social Distribution

One of the central ideas of both Critical Theory social theory and of pragmatist theories of knowledge is that epistemic and normative claims are embedded in some practical context. This “practical turn” of epistemology is especially relevant to the social sciences, whose main practical contribution, according to pragmatism, is to supply methods for identifying and solving problems. The problem of realizing the democratic ideal under modern social conditions is not only an instance of pragmatist inspired social science, pragmatists would also argue that it is the political context for practical inquiry today, now all the more pressing with the political problems of globalization. Despite weaknesses in the pragmatist idea of social science as the reflexive practical knowledge of praxis, a pragmatic interpretation of critical social inquiry is the best way to develop such practical knowledge in a distinctly critical or democratic manner. That is, the accent shifts from the epistemic superiority of the social scientist as expert to something based on the wider social distribution of relevant practical knowledge; the missing term for such a practical synthesis is what I call “multiperspectival theory.” As an example of this sort of practical inquiry, I discuss democratic experiments involving “minipublics” and argue that they can help us think about democracy in new, transnational contexts.

scholarly journals Critical theory and social inequality

Tempo Social ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-65
Author(s):  
Boike Rehbein
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
The Core ◽  
Scientific Object ◽  
The Social ◽  
Scientific Project

This paper argues that social inequality is possibly the core topic of any critical theory in the social sciences – for epistemological as well as ethical reasons. As the social scientist is part of the scientific object, namely society, the project of science is interdependent with its object. For this reason, the structure of society itself influences the shape of social science. At the same time, the processes and results of the scientific project have an impact on society. Science changes its own object. Epistemological issues are therefore tied to the ethical questions about the social organization of the scientific project, access to science, the structure of society and inequality. If access to science is unequal and if science contributes to inequality, this has to be legitimized scientifically.

The Impact of Endorsing the Belief in a Just World on Social Judgments

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît Testé ◽  
Samantha Perrin
Keyword(s):  
Social Desirability ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Social Utility ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Social Judgments ◽  
Just World ◽  
The Social ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
The Impact

The present research examines the social value attributed to endorsing the belief in a just world for self (BJW-S) and for others (BJW-O) in a Western society. We conducted four studies in which we asked participants to assess a target who endorsed BJW-S vs. BJW-O either strongly or weakly. Results showed that endorsement of BJW-S was socially valued and had a greater effect on social utility judgments than it did on social desirability judgments. In contrast, the main effect of endorsement of BJW-O was to reduce the target’s social desirability. The results also showed that the effect of BJW-S on social utility is mediated by the target’s perceived individualism, whereas the effect of BJW-S and BJW-O on social desirability is mediated by the target’s perceived collectivism.

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