Practical Normativity
Stephen Turner’s Contribution to the Philosophy of the Social
In: Stephen Turner and the Philosophy of the SocialSearch for other papers by Rafał Paweł Wierzchosławski in
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Abstract
In the first part of my text, I draw attention to some general philosophical assumptions accepted by Stephen Turner. I start with his early work Sociological Explanation as Translation (1980) and the relationship between ordinary and scientific knowledge as important for the understanding of the two categories analyzed: social practices (The Social Theory of Practices [1994]) and normativity (Explaining the Normative [2010]), both are discussed briefly in the following parts. In the next step I discuss the meaning of Good Bad Theories, as a key concept in the understanding of Turner’s view of normativity. Then I consider the gbt problem in the context of the relationship between the scientific and local perspectives. The problem is presented as an example of understanding religious beliefs (as evading empirical verification) both from the point of view of a specialist (theologian) and local worshipper, especially in case of believers from another culture (problem of missionary translation and explanation of alien beliefs). In my analysis I refer to the considerations of Mike Singleton: anthropologist and theologian. I consider whether gbt applies in this case, and if yes, in which way? In consequence, I claim that gbt might be a useful analytic tool in dealing with religious (worldview) contexts. In final remarks, I point out the potential application of the gbt concept in contemporary sociology of culture in context of Hubert Knoblauch’s analysis of popular religion.