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For reflexivity as an epistemic criterion of ontological coherence and virtuous social theorizing

Bouzanis, Christoforos

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Authors

Christoforos Bouzanis



Abstract

This article offers an approach that combines, on the one hand, the philosophical notion of reflexivity, which is related to the ideas of self-reference and paradox, and, on the other hand, the sociological discussion of epistemic reflexivity as a problem of coherence, which was mainly initiated by certain branches of ethnomethodology and social constructionism. This combinatory approach argues for reflexivity as an epistemic criterion of ontological coherence, which suggests that social ontologies should account for the possibility of self-reflective subjectivity – for otherwise they result in a paradoxical conclusion according to which a social scientist reflects on her or his ontological commitments even though these commitments deny her or him the capacity for self-reflection. This analysis presupposes that all human sciences are categorically premised on social ontologies; and it argues for an analytical distinction between self-reflection, which refers to the agential capacity for reflecting on one’s own commitments, and the epistemic criterion of reflexivity hereby proposed. These two analytically distinct though interdependent socio-theoretical concepts are frequently conflated in the literature; thus, this article also aims at a ‘clearing of the ground’ that can be of categorical use to the human sciences.

Citation

Bouzanis, C. (2017). For reflexivity as an epistemic criterion of ontological coherence and virtuous social theorizing. History of the Human Sciences, 30(5), 125-146. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695117724660

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 16, 2017
Online Publication Date Sep 14, 2017
Publication Date 2017-12
Deposit Date Sep 21, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal History of the Human Sciences
Print ISSN 0952-6951
Electronic ISSN 1461-720X
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 30
Issue 5
Pages 125-146
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695117724660
Keywords History and Philosophy of Science; History
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9996071
Publisher URL https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0952695117724660

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