Social Science and Practical Knowledge: Toward New Paradigms

The papers presented in this session approach the heading “new paradigms” in very different manners. What I am going to do in this discussion is the following: first I shall attempt to specify what really is pointed out as “new paradigms” by the authors; I shall not do so systematically (because, if at all, this is what the authors do themselves), but rather pull out a few strings that both seem significant to me and that can be assembled to something these papers have in common. Secondly I shall draw attention to a specific piece of information inherent in all three papers which is not seen as an element of a possible new paradigm by the authors but which, to my opinion, may be well regarded as such— and I shall use a little more space to argue why I think so.