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Single Idea 8054
[filed under theme 14. Science / B. Scientific Theories / 1. Scientific Theory
]
Full Idea
Social sciences have discovered no law-like generalisations whatsoever, ...and for the most part they adopt a very tolerant attitude to counter-examples.
Gist of Idea
Social sciences discover no law-like generalisations, and tend to ignore counterexamples
Source
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory [1981], Ch. 8)
Book Ref
MacIntyre,Alasdair: 'After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory' [Duckworth 1982], p.84
A Reaction
I suspect that this is as much to do with a narrow and rigid view of what 'science' is supposed to be, as a failure of the social sciences. Have such sciences explained anything? I suspect that they have explained a lot, often after the facts.
The
27 ideas
from 'After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory'
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7097
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Virtue is secondary to a role-figure, defined within a culture
[MacIntyre, by Statman]
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8034
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We still have the appearance and language of morality, but we no longer understand it
[MacIntyre]
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8036
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Unlike expressions of personal preference, evaluative expressions do not depend on context
[MacIntyre]
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8035
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In trying to explain the type of approval involved, emotivists are either silent, or viciously circular
[MacIntyre]
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8037
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The expression of feeling in a sentence is in its use, not in its meaning
[MacIntyre]
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8040
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Emotivism cannot explain the logical terms in moral discourse ('therefore', 'if..then')
[MacIntyre]
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8042
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Nowadays most people are emotivists, and it is embodied in our culture
[MacIntyre]
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8038
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Since Moore thinks the right action produces the most good, he is a utilitarian
[MacIntyre]
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8043
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Characters are the masks worn by moral philosophies
[MacIntyre]
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8045
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The failure of Enlightenment attempts to justify morality will explain our own culture
[MacIntyre]
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8047
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Philosophy has been marginalised by its failure in the Enlightenment to replace religion
[MacIntyre]
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8049
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Moral judgements now are anachronisms from a theistic age
[MacIntyre]
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8048
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When 'man' is thought of individually, apart from all roles, it ceases to be a functional concept
[MacIntyre]
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8050
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There are no natural or human rights, and belief in them is nonsense
[MacIntyre]
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8051
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Mention of 'intuition' in morality means something has gone wrong with the argument
[MacIntyre]
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8052
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To find empiricism and science in the same culture is surprising, as they are really incompatible
[MacIntyre]
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8057
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Unpredictability doesn't entail inexplicability, and predictability doesn't entail explicability
[MacIntyre]
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8054
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Social sciences discover no law-like generalisations, and tend to ignore counterexamples
[MacIntyre]
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8053
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Twentieth century social life is re-enacting eighteenth century philosophy
[MacIntyre]
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8056
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AI can't predict innovation, or consequences, or external relations, or external events
[MacIntyre]
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8055
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If God is omniscient, he confronts no as yet unmade decisions, so decisions are impossible
[MacIntyre]
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8058
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Maybe we can only understand rules if we first understand the virtues
[MacIntyre]
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8059
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The good life for man is the life spent seeking the good life for man
[MacIntyre]
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8060
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In the 17th-18th centuries morality offered a cure for egoism, through altruism
[MacIntyre]
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8061
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If morality just is emotion, there are no external criteria for judging emotions
[MacIntyre]
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8062
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Proof is a barren idea in philosophy, and the best philosophy never involves proof
[MacIntyre]
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21050
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I can only make decisions if I see myself as part of a story
[MacIntyre]
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