Michael Moehler Publishes on Instrumentalism in the Social and Moral Sciences

Michael Moehler, Professor and Founding Director of the David H. Kellogg Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, published an article with the title “Instrumentalism in the Social and Moral Sciences.” The article appeared in Philosophy of the Social Sciences, which serves as an international, interdisciplinary forum for current research, theory, and debate on the philosophical foundations of the social sciences.

Here is a link to the article and abstract: This article responds to recent criticism regarding the application of consequentialism and rational choice theory in the social and moral sciences. It clarifies the limited scope of the presented criticism and its overly simplistic view of social scientific inquiry that, together, lead to the presentation of an argument that claims more than it warrants. Moreover, I argue that the criticism overlooks one of the most important uses of instrumentalism in moral theory that may be considered the most challenging case for the application of rational choice theory.