Words and Distinctions for the Common Good

More about the book

Social scientists explore diverse topics such as gender, capitalism, populism, and race, making claims about empathy, intelligence, neoliberalism, and power, while advising policymakers on issues like diversity and digitalization. However, as Gabriel Abend highlights, there is significant disagreement within the field regarding the definitions and classifications of these concepts. Questions arise about distinguishing between a religion, cult, or sect, defining empathy, and identifying what constitutes a capitalist society. Abend argues that these disputes are fundamentally misconceived, stemming from a conflation of two critical questions: how a social science community should utilize its key terms and what distinctions it should accept. He asserts that there is no definitive answer to these questions; rather, they reflect the community's practical reasoning aimed at achieving epistemically and morally sound outcomes. Abend urges social science communities to collaborate on their terminology, distinctions, and classifications, emphasizing that collective decisions should guide these processes rather than individual scholars. He advocates for the incorporation of the common good, justice, and equality into the logic of scientific research. Gabriel Abend is a sociology professor at the University of Lucerne and the author of "The Moral Background: An Inquiry into the History of Business Ethics."