Filozofija i drustvo 2016 Volume 27, Issue 2, Pages: 398-406
https://doi.org/10.2298/FID1602398P
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Pragmatic epistemology and the community of engaged actors
Prodanović Srđan (Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, Belgrade)
In this paper I will explore the relation between engagement and social
science. I will try to argue that positivist epistemology found in the early
days of social sciences still greatly influences our understanding of social
engagement. In the first part of the paper, I will analyze the epistemology
of social sciences advocated by Fourier and Saint-Simon and try to show that,
for them, scientific method was primarily the means for taming social change,
as well as projecting private desires and plans onto the public sphere. In
the second part, I will offer an alternative account of social engagement
using the epistemic role of the community found in pragmatism.
Keywords: pragmatism, social science, social engagement, epistemology