Circular theory that merely reaffirms known political conclusions produces no new knowledge.

Evidence

Although its originators looked for certainties to replace preestablished dogmas, modernity effectively involves the institutionalisation of doubt. All knowledge claims, in conditions of modernity, are inherently circular, although “circularity” has a different connotation in the natural as compared to the social sciences. In the former, it concerns the fact that science is pure method, such that all substantive forms of “accepted knowledge” are in principle open to being discarded. The social sciences presume a circularity in a twofold sense, which is constitutively fundamental to modern institutions. The knowledge claims they produce are all in principle revisable, but also become “revised” in a practical sense as they circulate in and out of the environment they describe. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 408 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Knowledge that merely reconfirms orthodoxy is pure recognition, not real knowing; Excessive theorizing can empty power of its material exercise; Intellectual work must produce new knowledges rather than recirculate known conclusions (+1 more)

Related

• Modernity institutionalises doubt, making all knowledge claims inherently circular (similarity 0.88)
• Truth-telling critical work produces new knowledges rather than circular confirmations of known positions. (similarity 0.85)
• New social knowledge alters the social world rather than merely describing it (similarity 0.81)
• Modernity’s reflexivity makes its own rational grounds ultimately puzzling (similarity 0.81)
• Circular theory that only restates known conclusions produces no genuine knowledge (similarity 0.80)
• Modernity’s reflexivity subverts reason’s claim to certitude. (similarity 0.79)
• Modernity’s core is an irreducible enigma that cannot be overcome (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Intellectual work must produce new knowledges rather than recirculate known conclusions #corroborates (0.95)
• Modernity institutionalises doubt, making all knowledge claims inherently circular #expands (0.78) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 408