Pragmatism, critical realism and the study of value
This paper examines the relationship between pragmatism and critical realism, first as alternative philosophies for the social sciences in general, and second, as an illustration, in the social study of monetary valuation. The paper argues that both traditions are internally diverse. Hence, the rela...
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rr-article-201820612022-03-22T00:00:00Z Pragmatism, critical realism and the study of value Dave Elder-Vass (1252800) Philosophy not elsewhere classified critical realism foundationalism pragmatism valuation Philosophy This paper examines the relationship between pragmatism and critical realism, first as alternative philosophies for the social sciences in general, and second, as an illustration, in the social study of monetary valuation. The paper argues that both traditions are internally diverse. Hence, the relations between the two are complex, with both substantial overlaps and real differences revealed in encounters between them. Perhaps the most significant difference is pragmatism’s distrust of invocations of structural power in social explanations, whereas realism encourages them, in interaction with other explanatory elements. The paper problematizes claims that recent work in the study of value is predominantly pragmatist. Nevertheless, it argues that pragmatist influence has encouraged valuation studies to focus on the micro level at the expense of the macro. From a realist perspective, however, there is much to be gained from an approach that embraces both micro and macro levels and the relations between them. 2022-03-22T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/20182061.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Pragmatism_critical_realism_and_the_study_of_value/20182061 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
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Philosophy not elsewhere classified critical realism foundationalism pragmatism valuation Philosophy |
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Philosophy not elsewhere classified critical realism foundationalism pragmatism valuation Philosophy Dave Elder-Vass Pragmatism, critical realism and the study of value |
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This paper examines the relationship between pragmatism and critical realism, first as alternative philosophies for the social sciences in general, and second, as an illustration, in the social study of monetary valuation. The paper argues that both traditions are internally diverse. Hence, the relations between the two are complex, with both substantial overlaps and real differences revealed in encounters between them. Perhaps the most significant difference is pragmatism’s distrust of invocations of structural power in social explanations, whereas realism encourages them, in interaction with other explanatory elements. The paper problematizes claims that recent work in the study of value is predominantly pragmatist. Nevertheless, it argues that pragmatist influence has encouraged valuation studies to focus on the micro level at the expense of the macro. From a realist perspective, however, there is much to be gained from an approach that embraces both micro and macro levels and the relations between them. |
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Default Article |
| author |
Dave Elder-Vass |
| author_facet |
Dave Elder-Vass |
| author_sort |
Dave Elder-Vass (1252800) |
| title |
Pragmatism, critical realism and the study of value |
| title_short |
Pragmatism, critical realism and the study of value |
| title_full |
Pragmatism, critical realism and the study of value |
| title_fullStr |
Pragmatism, critical realism and the study of value |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Pragmatism, critical realism and the study of value |
| title_sort |
pragmatism, critical realism and the study of value |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
https://hdl.handle.net/2134/20182061.v1 |
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1797729158949765120 |