Description
The conclusion sketches a picture of what happens when we do without the notion of a shared practice, and how this bears on social theory and philosophy. It explains why social theory cannot get beyond the stage of constructing fuzzy analogies, and why the standard constructions of the contemporary philosophical problem of relativism depend upon this defective notion.
About the Author
Stephen Turner is the author of several previous books including The Search for a Methodology of Social Science and Sociological Analysis as Translation.
Reviews
'This is a fresh, highly intelligent and stimulating study that should be of considerable interest to philosophers and social and political scientists alike.' Stanley Rosen, Pennsylvania State University
'Turner's book offers a devastating critique of one of the central analytic tools of contemporary humanities scholarship. He shows how the notion of practices has become the postmodernist counterpart to traditional explanation- stoppers or first principles. More importantly, he drives home the principled inability of practice jargon to explain, or even to acknowledge,the phenomena of change of rules and concepts.'
Larry Laudan, University of Hawaii
'This is a wide-ranging, highly critical, indeed polemical book.'
Political Studies
'Provocative and intelligent book ... impressively wide in scope.'
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
Book Information
ISBN 9780745613727
Author Stephen P. Turner
Format Paperback
Page Count 160
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 255g
Dimensions(mm) 228mm * 154mm * 12mm