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Determinism and the antiquated deontology of the social sciences
[working paper]
Abstract This article shows how the social sciences, particularly human geography, rejected hard determinism by the mid-twentieth century partly on the deontological basis that it is irreconcilable with social justice, yet this rejection came just before a burst of creative development in consequentialist th... view more
This article shows how the social sciences, particularly human geography, rejected hard determinism by the mid-twentieth century partly on the deontological basis that it is irreconcilable with social justice, yet this rejection came just before a burst of creative development in consequentialist theories of social justice that problematize a facile rejection of determinism on moral grounds, a development that has seldom been recognized in the social sciences. Thus many current social science and human geography views on determinism and social justice are antiquated, ignoring numerous common and well-respected arguments within philosophy that hard determinism can be reconciled with a just society. We support this argument by briefly tracing the parallel development of stances on determinism in the social sciences and the deontological-consequentialist debate in philosophy. The purpose of the article is to resituate social science and human geography debates on determinism and social justice within a modern ethical framework.... view less
Keywords
determinism; morality; ethics; social science; social justice; philosophy
Classification
General Problems, History of the Social Sciences
Philosophy, Ethics, Religion
Free Keywords
Philosophy of the Social Sciences; consequentialism; ethics; morals; biological determinism; environmental determinism
Document language
English
Publication Year
2008
Page/Pages
26 p.
Status
Preprint; not reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution