Empirical Research and Normative Theory: Transdisciplinary Perspectives PDF
Preview Empirical Research and Normative Theory: Transdisciplinary Perspectives
Empirical Research and Normative Theory Empirical Research and Normative Theory Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Two Methodical Traditions Between Separation and Interdependence Edited by Alexander Max Bauer and Malte Ingo Meyerhuber ISBN 978-3-11-061209-7 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-061379-7 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-061214-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2020931456 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Cover image: M.C. Escher’s “Hand with Reflecting Sphere” © 2018 The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands. All rights reserved. www.mcescher.com Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck www.degruyter.com Foreword There has long been an active and highly sophisticated debate, cutting across multiple disciplines,about the relationship between empirical scienceand nor- mative theory. In recent years, however, this discussion has taken on a special urgencythatitdidnotpreviouslyhave.Thekeychangehasnotarisenprimarily fromanyshift in our understandingat a moreabstract level of the relationship between the two fields. Rather, the change has come, at least in the first in- stance, from recent advances in our understanding of specific concrete issues in the empirical sciences themselves. Back when I first entered academia, much of the work on the relationship between empirical science and normative theory had a more hypothetical or metaphilosophical character. Often, a paper would begin by asking the reader toimagine that scientists of the future find an answer to some question of nor- mativeimportance.“Supposescientistsofthefutureuncoverthefactorsthatde- terminehowhappyapersonfeels”.“Supposescientistsfigureoutpreciselywhat is happening in people’s minds when they make moral judgments”. “Suppose scientists are able to remove your brain, place it in a vat, and stimulate it in such a way that you have precisely the experiences you would have if you were leading a deeply satisfying and rewarding life”. The inquiry would then be concernedwithwhatweshould conclude within normative theory if empiri- cal science ever did advance to this point. As even a brief glance at the chapters included in this volume will show, workon these issues has takenaverydifferent turn over the past fewdecades. We have seen truly remarkable strides within empirical science on exactly the sorts of questions that seem most directly relevant to normative theory and, as adirectresult,theemergenceofseriousresearchprogrammesdevotedtoexplor- ingindetailtheimplicationsofthosefindings.Inshort,workonthesequestions isnolongermerelyhypotheticalormetaphilosophical;itisgenuinelynormative. Thequestionswefacethesedaysaremostlynotoftheform“Supposescientists ofthefuture…”butratheroftheform“Giventhatempiricalscienceactuallyhas discovered…,whatshould wenowconclude about howhuman beings ought to live?” Oneofthemoststrikingaspectsofthisnewformofinquiryisitsconspicu- ous interdisciplinarity. If we are to explore in any serious way the relationship between empirical research and normative theory, we will need to rely on in- sights from an enormous variety of different disciplines: philosophy, sure, but also psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and many others be- sides.Thepresentvolumethereforeofferspreciselywhatisneeded–notsimply https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110613797-001 VI Foreword aconversationamongdifferentresearchersinthesamedisciplinebutamorefar- reaching discussion that cuts across disciplines that were, at least at one time, farmoreinsulatedfromoneanother.Thisisthediscussionweneedtobehaving, and one that I hope this volume will help to develop and further encourage. New Haven,Connecticut, September 2019 Joshua Knobe Preface Thisvolumeshedssomelightonthewidefieldoftensionthatopensupbetween isandought.Withthecontributionsgatheredinit,wehopetoprovideyou,the reader,withsomeinterestinginsightsintothecontroversialdebatessurrounding therelationshipbetweenisandoughtaswellasbetweenempiricalresearchand normativetheory.Weinviteyoutojoinusandourauthorsinreflectingcritically onthisareaoftensionandwishyoustimulatingreading,justaswehadastim- ulating time compiling the volume. – It goes back to an international summer school on this topic, which took place from October 28 to 29, 2017. The event wasorganisedbytheeditorsaspartofthe“OldenburgSchoolfortheSocialSci- encesandtheHumanities”andfeaturedcontributionsbyMaxAgostini,Martijn Boot,MaartenDerksen,NiklasDworazik,CarlosA.deMatosFernandes,Andrea Klonschinski, Jannis Kreienkamp, Marvin Kunz, Albert W. Musschenga, Elsa Romfeld,HannoSauer,SebastianSchleidgen,MarkSchweda,andLarsSchwett- mann,aswellastwopubliclecturesbyStefanMüller-DoohmandPhilippHübl. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them once again, as wellastheGraduateSchoolforSocialSciencesandtheHumanities (3GO)–es- pecially its coordinator Rea Kodalle and our assistants Lukas Brüggen, Philipp Kochan, and Isabel Sturm – under whose roof the event took place. It was also made possible by the support of the Foundation and Innovation Centre, the General Student Committee (AStA), the Institute of Philosophy, as well as theFacultiesIIandIVoftheCarlvonOssietzkyUniversityofOldenburg,theRe- searchTrainingGroup“Self-Making–PracticesofSubjectivation”oftheGerman Research Foundation (DFG), and the doctoral programmes “Cultures of Partici- pation” and “Border Formations in Migration Societies”. ForbothofusthepresentandtheGermanvolumePhilosophiezwischenSein undSollen–NormativeTheorieundempirischeForschungimSpannungsfeldwere thefirstprojectsofthiskind.Fortunately,wewereabletofallbackontheexpe- rienceof others.Theory and practice,however, aretwo different pairs of shoes. Andthat’sprobablyhowitstandswithexperiencesaswell:Youcanhearorread aboutthem;butmakingthemyourself issomethingcompletelydifferent.Chris- tophSchirmerandTimVogelofWalterdeGruyter,inparticular,supportedusin collectingtheseexperiencesandwerealwayspatientandhelpful.Moreover,we thank Oliver Schoenbeck for important insights, Mark Siebel for his valuable support,aswellasOdaSiqvelandandPalomaHammondofSpringerformaking JamesKonow’sreprintpossible.Wealsocollectedourexperiencestogetherwith our authors,with whom it was a great pleasure to work together:Without Max Agostini,KurtBeyertz,DanielFüger,CarlosA.deMatosFernandes,Guillermina https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110613797-002 VIII Preface Jasso, James Konow, Jannis Kreienkamp, Marvin Kunz, Marcel Mertz, Sylke Meyerhuber, David Miller, Albert W. Musschenga, Norbert Paulo, Philip Penew, Elsa Romfeld, Sebastian Schleidgen, Reinhard Schulz, Mark Schweda, Lars Schwettmann, Widukind Andreas Schweiberer, Stephen J. Sullivan, and Peter WiersbinskithepresentandtheGermanvolumewouldn’tbewhattheyare.Fur- thermore, we are grateful for the copy-editing by Gisella Vorderobermeier and Konrad Vorderobermeier. All remaining errors, of course, are our own. We would also like to thank Margareth Verbakel of the M.C. Escher Company for theopportunitytouseEscher’s“HandwithReflectingSphere”asacoverimage. Moreover, we have to thank our friends. Many thanks go to Wolfgang Alt- mann, Tobias Horst Bocklage, Ann-Christin Gerber, Emily Dora Heitmann, Kai Henke,JonasFerdinandHilgefort,HaukeKolweyh,GerritKolweyh,FelixMitrov- ics,Tibor Mitrovics, Anna Nitzsche, Ulrieke Offermann, Linda Tezlow, and the whole Zomer family. Lena Marie Zomer proved to be particularly patient. Not to forget Jessica Allermann, Jan Romann, Xenia Sharon Wolfgramm, and Marco Zieger. Thanks are also due to our parents. Marion and Manfred Bauer as well as Ursel and Udo Meyerhuber have once again proven to be extremely patient. Bremen, November 2018 Alexander Max Bauer and Malte Ingo Meyerhuber Table of Contents Foreword V Preface VII List of Abbreviations XI Alexander Max Bauer and Malte Ingo Meyerhuber Introduction 1 Alexander Max Bauer and Malte Ingo Meyerhuber Two Worlds on the Brinkof Colliding On the Relationship Between Empirical Research and Normative Theory 11 Sylke Meyerhuber Normative Theories and Their Influence on Empirical Research Theoretical Expositions and Practical Examples from a Qualitative Researcher in Applied Social Psychology 35 Jannis Kreienkamp, Maximilian Agostini, Marvin Kunz, Malte Ingo Meyerhuber, and Carlos A. de Matos Fernandes Normative Influences in Science and Their Impact on (Objective) Empirical Research 75 Guillermina Jasso Is and Ought From Ideas to Theory to Empirics 105 Albert W. Musschenga Empirically Informed Moral Intuitionism 129 Norbert Paulo A Principle of Psychological Realism for Moral Epistemology 151 X TableofContents Stephen J. Sullivan Moral Epistemology Naturalised Theory Justification in Ethics and Science 169 Marcel Mertz Empirical Incursions Or How Empirical Information May Influence the Validity of a Moral Norm 189 James Konow Is Fairness in the Eye of the Beholder? An Impartial Spectator Analysis of Justice 237 David Miller Needs-Based Justice Theory and Evidence 273 Lars Schwettmann A Simple Vote Won’t Do It Empirical Social Choice and the Fair Allocation of Health Care Resources 295 Peter Wiersbinski Conceiving the Anthropological Difference as a Categorical Divide Is There Any Room Left for Empirical Research? 317 Alexander Max Bauer and Malte Ingo Meyerhuber Epilogue On Doxa and Aletheia 337 List of Contributors 343 Index of Names 347 Index of Subjects 349
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