What is Good Science: The Nature of Meaningful Behaviour

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"The Nature of Meaningful Behaviour" (1990) is an Article by Peter Winch that was published in The Idea of a Social Science: and its Relation to Philosophy (ISBN 0415054311).

Summary

1. Philosophy and Sociology
   • Elaboration on the relation of philosophies and epistemology (=theory of knowledge)
     • Wittgenstein: while the former reveal unique details in a certain field, the latter is concerned with “life as such”
   • Conclusions to be drawn for “conception of the social studies” (p. 41)
   • Debate on role of sociology, author reasons that a “discussion of the nature of social phenomena in general” ought to be part of it
     • Sociological subjects have the character of total phenomena
   • -> similarities between epistemology and sociology
   • Widely accepted belief: numerous sciences have ran into ‘philosophical issues or issues’ which then need to be resolved to advance that particular science
   • This is not the case for sociology, since philosophical inquiries are part of its very nature
   • Author presents example of languages which could be examined in greater depth from sociological standpoint, pointing out that the specific characteristics of language should not be taken fro granted

2. Meaningful Behaviour
   • conclusions drawn from the analysis of language can be useful when attempting to understand other fields of human interaction
   • applicable to actions with meaning, symbolic character or intention
   • author explains action for a reason: process of reasoning, pro vs con -> appropriate action
   • concepts used within reasoning must be understood by decisive actor
   • meaningful behaviour does not have to be that clear-cut:
     • reason might not be stated
     • actor might not be aware of his/her subconscious reasoning (<- Freud)
     • traditions might affect the choices being made
   • “distinguish acts which have sense from those which do not?” (p.49)
   • Action with a sense entails commitment (e.g. placing a bookmark -> read on)
     • Commitment derives from the fact that present action is according to a rule -> relation to social context, even for private acts
   • Symbolic acts also rely on awareness of the symbolism (e.g. voting)
3. Activities and Precepts
   • Rules mean very different things to different people
     • People not only respect different rules, but also interpret the same ones differently
   • Rationalistic misconception: reasoning is mainly a means to determine how to achieve the goals spelt out by men’s emotions
   • Author cites Oakeshott to point out that this cannot be true since reasoning as well as any goal depend on forms of social activity
   • Also, precepts and rules are inadequate to sum up human activity
     • inferring a conclusion from a set of premises pre-supposes that one acknowledges the logical following of the conclusion
     • e.g. What the Tortoise said to Achilles (p. 56)
4. Rules and Habits
   • Precepts, definitions, principles etc are all dependent on the context of human activity
   • Oakeshott concludes that habits and customs are adequate to describe human behaviour <- author disagrees with the exclusion of rule & reflection
     • Oakeshoot assumes that the distinction between rule-governed and habitual behaviour is whether the rule is being applied consciously
     • WRONG because application of a rule does not imply understanding of the latter, criterion can be applied without being able to describe the criterion (e.g. teaching a dog without grasping the underlying behavioural psychology and conditioning -> ‘rule’ of how to teach the dog can be acquired without deeper knowledge of how that works)
   • Rules have to be taken into account when explaining human interaction and individual decisions
5. Reflectiveness
   • Meaningful behaviour is more than utilizing pre-existing rules
   • Principles derive meaning from the form of conduct and depend on context. YET, forms of conduct = embodiment of principles
   • -> inter-dependence of rule / principle and human (meaningful) behaviour
   • If appropriate measures to be taken cannot be derived from personal experience, reflection is inevitable
   • History = passing on what is considered important when facing present and future challenges –> more than just inheritance of habits
   • Oakeshott contradicts himself when admitting that human behaviour entails the conscious choice of an option, hence admitting that one could have made a different choice but decided not to do so -> understanding of one’s situation, reflection upon one’s options -> conduct which entails alternating options presupposes understanding

Critique / Questions / Reflection / Comments

See also

• What is Good Science - Main Page