Introduction to the Philosophy of the Management Sciences
Extensive and complete summary of the premaster course Philosophy of Science at RSM. Lectures (academic year ) and Chapters 1 to 4 of the book "Introduction to the philosophy of the management sciences" by T. van Willigenburg have been summarized in the chronological order of the modules. Use the t...
Literature Notes (Chapter 1) .............................................................................................. 5
1. Introduction: the authority of science & the distinction between scientific & everyday knowledge. ..... 5
2. Five features of scientific knowledge: .................................................................................................................... 5
3. Misconceptions with regard to the methods of the management sciences:................................................. 5
4. The good reason model of truth ............................................................................................................................ 6
5. ‘What is reasonable’ as a methodological question............................................................................................ 7
6. ‘What is reasonable’ as an epistemological question ......................................................................................... 7
7. ‘What is reasonable’ as an ontological question ................................................................................................. 7
8. Idealism versus realism.............................................................................................................................................. 8
9. Kantian realism and the pre-shapedness of observation ................................................................................... 8
10. We need more than one perspective and approach in studying natural and social phenomena. ....... 8
11. Excursions................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Module 2 ............................................................................................................................10
Lecture notes ....................................................................................................................... 10
2.1 Historical background ......................................................................................................................................... 10
2.2 Science and language ........................................................................................................................................... 10
2.3 Logical Positivism ................................................................................................................................................. 11
2.4 Problems with Logical Positivism ..................................................................................................................... 11
Literature Notes (Chapter 2, pt.1).................................................................................... 13
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 13
2. Enlightenment as a source of rationalism and empiricism .............................................................................. 13
3. Positivism as an extreme form of empiricism .................................................................................................... 14
4. The induction problem: from a limited set of observations no general empirical law can be derived 14
5. Two models of truth ............................................................................................................................................... 15
6. The standard model of the sciences: coherence and the empirical cycle ................................................... 15
, Literature Notes (Chapter 2, pt.2).................................................................................... 21
1. Popper’s Critical rationalism.................................................................................................................................. 21
2. Scientific Paradigms and Scientific Revolutions.................................................................................................. 21
Module 4 ............................................................................................................................22
Lecture notes ....................................................................................................................... 22
4.1 The Science of Management .............................................................................................................................. 22
4.2 Modes of Explanation.......................................................................................................................................... 22
4.3 Industrial Organization and Resource-Based View ...................................................................................... 23
4.4 Systems Thinking.................................................................................................................................................. 24
4.5 Institutional Theory ............................................................................................................................................. 24
Literature Notes (Chapter 4) ............................................................................................ 26
1. Methodological collectivism is generally based on ontological holism......................................................... 26
2. Explaining and understanding at a macro level .................................................................................................. 26
3. Systems theory (functionalism) ............................................................................................................................. 26
4. Functionalist explanation of criminality ............................................................................................................... 27
5. Two problems ........................................................................................................................................................... 27
6. Symbolic interactionism .......................................................................................................................................... 27
7. Perspective of the participant ................................................................................................................................ 28
8. Following rules .......................................................................................................................................................... 28
9. Interpretation: Significant patterns and social meaning ................................................................................... 28
10. Symbolic interactionism: Finding the norms (the norma) behind what is considered to be normal28
Module 5 ............................................................................................................................29
Lecture notes ....................................................................................................................... 29
5.1 Rational Choice Theory ..................................................................................................................................... 29
5.2 Agency Problems / The Principal-Agent Problem ........................................................................................ 29
5.3 Game Theory........................................................................................................................................................ 30
5.4 Evaluation of Rational Choice Theory ............................................................................................................ 31
5.5 Methods ................................................................................................................................................................. 31
Literature Notes (Chapter 3) ............................................................................................ 34
1. Level and nature of analysis in the social sciences ............................................................................................ 34
2. Hermeneutics: the art of interpretation (of reasons and meanings) ............................................................ 34
3. Rational Choice Theory .......................................................................................................................................... 34
4. Game Theory ............................................................................................................................................................ 35
5. Rational choice theory models society as a sum of mutually advantageous cooperation agreements 35
6. The problem of rational choice theory ............................................................................................................... 35
7. Rational Choice Theory has an important function next to hermeneutics of individual motives. ........ 36
8. Four types of research in the social sciences .................................................................................................... 36
9. Five basic games ........................................................................................................................................................ 36
2
,MODULE 1
LECTURE NOTES
1.1 PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING
- Slow thinking is often a lot more logical and reliable.
- Kahneman: we use two systems in our thinking: system 1 and system 2.
o System 1: Fast. Everything that occurs to you directly without effort is the work of system one
(intuitive).
o System 2: Slow and takes effort. This effort results in measurable physical consequences (e.g.,
dilation of pupils).
- But what does it mean to think philosophically? à to slow down your thinking. Slowly and logically. We will
use System 2.
- What are we thinking about? The most important goal of this course is to familiarize us with how science
works, science in general and management in particular.
- The scientific program is not just a collection of facts that you need to memorize, it's all an attempt to
understand the world but the world is complex, and humans are not as smart as we would wish. So, a critical
attitude is essential to scientific thinking. That helps protect us against errors.
1.2 WHAT IS SCIENCE?
- Making distinctions between fields: e.g., medicine is a science, but homeopathy is not a science. This question
of distinction, how to distinguish between what science is and what is not science, is called the
demarcation problem.
- We could also say, science is a collection of knowledge. Not all knowledge is scientific (e.g., knowing
someone’s name vs. knowing that metal expands when you heat it).
- Scientific knowledge often is general; it says something about all cases of a certain type.
- Science also has something convincing about it, you can count on it. (e.g. when you ask your doctor if a
medicine really works and he says that it’s proven scientifically, that is convincing).
- Science is certain knowledge, knowledge for which we have solid conclusive evidence. But is there anything
that has really been proven conclusively? Is anything certain?
- Scientific knowledge is reliable knowledge for which we have a good reason to believe it? But, how do we
know which knowledge is reliable?
- Science is not a certain type of knowledge, but a certain method, a method to generate knowledge and
the knowledge that results we could call that scientific knowledge. What would that method consist of?
- Perhaps it is also a certain attitude, scepsis, doubt, critical thinking, slow thinking, logical thinking.
- Scepsis: postponing your judgment. You neither agree nor disagree. This attitude of skepticism you can see
as a shield against errors in thinking against system one, a well-trained sceptic is very good at interrupting
system 1, taking a step back and starting to think slowly. Instead of forming an opinion straightaway, first
consider what evidence you have.
Science and superstition:
E.g., the FC Barcelona + iced tea example.
- Our brains were not made to find scientific truths. By nature, we're not looking for truth, for knowledge.
Though the human mind searches for patterns to influence reality. When there's something that's important
to you but you have no direct influence; you will search for a way and then it's very easy to fool yourself.
- The human mind tends to make all sorts of thinking mistakes and to take on all sorts of superstition. By
nature, people are easy to mislead. Science is also a battle against superstition.
- You can see science as a human enterprise, a tradition, a project, something people have been working on
for centuries, and in which we have achieved incredible heights. A beautiful enterprise that has yielded
fantastic results, but also a dangerous enterprise that has yielded atom bombs and climate change. So, it's
important that we analyze it carefully and take our time to think about it.
3
,1.3 LOGIC
- Philosophy and science made extensive use of logic. You could say logic is a developed form of system two:
the formalized version as it were. We use logic to analyze arguments.
Logical argument
- Argument / syllogism: Argument here is meant not in the sense of dispute, and also not in the sense of
something you use to convince other people. We're talking about arguments that you use for yourself to
think critically for yourself. You could also call this reasoning. And in that sense, a logical argument is a
formalized written out bit of reasoning. An argument always has two parts: premises and conclusions.
Premises are like assumptions. An instance of a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn from two given
or assumed propositions (premises); a common or middle term is present in the two premises but not in the conclusion,
which may be invalid (e.g. all dogs are animals; all animals have four legs; therefore all dogs have four legs).
- Truth preservation: If the assumptions are indeed true, then we know for sure that the conclusion is also
true. In a logically valid argument, true premises always lead to true conclusions.
- E.g., all men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal
Logical valid argument with untrue premises:
- When the premises are not true, the conclusion could be false but the argument is valid. So, the logic of the
argument is correct, but the assumption is wrong, therefore the conclusion is wrong.
- We must distinguish between the form and the content. The form of the argument is correct. The logic is
right, only it has untrue content. So, when we talk about the validity of an argument, we talk about the
logical form. And the form can be correct, even if the content is nonsense.
- Truth preservation: in a logically valid argument, true premises always lead to true conclusions. If not all
premises are true, we don’t know whether the conclusion is true.
- E.g., all rabbits are mortal. Socrates is a rabbit. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
Invalid argument:
- When a conclusion does not follow from the premises. The premises are true, and the conclusion is true,
but the argument is invalid.
- E.g., all rabbits are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
• VALID: Affirming the antecedent / Modus ponens:
All A are B. X is A. Therefore: X is B.
• VALID: Denying the consequent / Modus tollens:
Everyone who is A, is B. X is not B. Therefore: X is not A.
• INVALID: Affirming the consequent:
If A, then B. B is true. Therefore: A is true.
• INVALID: Denying the antecedent:
If A, then B. A is false. Therefore: B is false.
- Why is all this useful? Because it allows us to evaluate arguments. If someone is trying to convince us of
something, we can make their argument formal; write it out in logical terms, and then we can check whether
A) the logical form is valid and B) whether we believe the premises.
4
, LITERATURE NOTES (CHAPTER 1)
1. INTRODUCTION: THE AUTHORITY OF SCIENCE & THE DISTINCTION
BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC & EVERYDAY KNOWLEDGE.
- Philosophy of science is a discipline of questioning the pretenses (=false assumptions) of the natural and
the social sciences à it is concerned with the nature of scientific knowledge.
- Calling some view ‘scientific’ strongly enhances its selling power: we base decisions and policies on this
(enormous authority of science).
- Management studies are a species of social science: they do not examine natural phenomena, but social
phenomena (e.g., the way organizations operate or the way how markets function).
- The knowledge collected in management sciences is mostly of social, economic, institutional, and
psychological patterns, structures, regularities, and laws.
- In management studies we aim to gain knowledge about certain kinds of businesses and certain types
of successful logistics management. The claims in the management sciences should be generalizable. We
look for principles and patterns that are valid in general, just as in chemistry we are not interested in
specific reaction, but in the laws that are at work.
- Opposed to in everyday knowledge, generalizability is important because science has a clear goal: it
wants to explain and understand phenomena (find the reason why). Science is searching for general claims
about law-like mechanisms that help us to understand and explain complex processes, events, and phenomena.
- In management studies there is a line of thinking according to which everything that happens in and
around enterprises and businesses is deeply subject to change (no clear mechanisms that show us the
path to successful management).
- Scientific research is characterized by the fact that it can be tested. Scrutiny (=critical observation or
examination) is the hallmark of science.
- Trustworthiness of scientific results requires controllability and controllability requires repeatability.
2. FIVE FEATURES OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE:
1) Generalizability (we want to explain and understand phenomena).
2) Controllability (therefore, research must be transparent and repeatable).
3) Objectivity (therefore, scientific research must be independent).
Scholars should be aware that their research can be influenced by what the clients hope to hear.
Independence of external pressure and influence is an important condition for the objectivity and
therefore trustworthiness of the results.
4) The use of valid methods of research.
We cannot claim that we have gained scientific knowledge if or beliefs are not founded, i.e., based on
results that can be justified in true belief. A belief may be justified, but false: not enough or the right
evidence. A belief may be true, but unjustified: e.g., luckily guessing for the right answer. Scholars usually
use more than one research method.
5) Parsimony: the use of clear and simple models of explanation (because understanding requires
simplification, though there are limits to what can be simplified).
Clarity and simplicity enhance the explanatory power of a theory and make it possible to test the theory
in cases that are different from the cases which were used to build up the theory. Parsimony = the
simplest explanation that explain the greatest number of observations is preferred to more complex explanations.
There are however limits to the pursuit of clarity and simplification (in overly complex situations).
3. MISCONCEPTIONS WITH REGARD TO THE METHODS OF THE MANAGEMENT
SCIENCES:
1) Only empirical research is scientific. “Social-scientific research should describe facts and calculate data as
adequately as possible (with statistics).”
- Empirical social scientific research = research of phenomena using surveys, interviews, field studies, etc.
- The analysis of concepts with which we try to grasp the data and the reality they represent is as
important as the gathering and statistical analysis of those data. Without thorough conceptual analysis,
there is no thorough scientific research. We need some basic understanding of the concept of an
organization, before we can see the phenomenon grasped by that concept.
5
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