Words and Distinctions for the Common Good - by Gabriel Abend (Paperback)

About the Book

"In this book, Gabriel Abend argues that social scientists need to focus more on the words and distinctions that their empirical claims depend on. He suggests two central questions researchers need to consider. First, how should word "w" be used in the social science community? Which is to say, how should word "w" be defined, should it be used at all, and if so, on what grounds? Second, should distinction "d" be accepted in the social science community? For example, when a social scientist proposes a distinction between childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age, should they be accepted and on what grounds? Which distinctions and classifications are good for the social science community? Throughout the chapters, Abend carefully investigates these core issues and related questions, arguing along the way that there is not a definitive answer. Instead, the book invites the social science community to work together to collectively address these consequential concerns"--

Book Synopsis

How social scientists' disagreements about their key words and distinctions have been misconceived, and what to do about it

Social scientists do research on a variety of topics--gender, capitalism, populism, and race and ethnicity, among others. They make descriptive and explanatory claims about empathy, intelligence, neoliberalism, and power. They advise policymakers on diversity, digitalization, work, and religion. And yet, as Gabriel Abend points out in this provocative book, they can't agree on what these things are and how to identify them. How to tell if something is a religion or a cult or a sect? What is empathy? What makes this society a capitalist one? Disputes of this sort arise again and again in the social sciences.

Abend argues that these disagreements have been doubly misconceived. First, they conflate two questions: how a social science community should use its most important words, and what distinctions it should accept and work with. Second, there's no fact of the matter about either. Instead, they're practical reason questions for a community, which aim at epistemically and morally good outcomes. Abend calls on social science communities to work together on their words, distinctions, and classifications. They must make collective decisions about the uses of words, the acceptability of distinctions, and the criteria for assessing both. These decisions aren't up to individual scholars; the community gets the last word. According to Abend, the common good, justice, and equality should play a significant role in the logic of scientific research.

Gabriel Abend is professor of sociology at University of Lucerne and the author of The Moral Background: An Inquiry into the History of Business Ethics (Princeton).

Review Quotes

"An interesting read and an education in itself."---Michael J. Carter, Social Forces

"Deliver[s] outstanding expositions of highly original and helpful arguments."---Christian Dayé, American Journal of Sociology

"[A] fun and deeply thoughtful contribution to real-world social science research."-- "Choice"

About the Author

Gabriel Abend is professor of sociology at University of Lucerne and the author of The Moral Background: An Inquiry into the History of Business Ethics (Princeton).