Social disciplines alone deny contested concepts existed even while declaring them dead
Evidence
There are many ways that social theory operates in a modality different from the natural sciences; but one standout characteristic is that when it comes to the Big Notions that really matter, the social disciplines often find their acolytes proclaiming the “Death of X” contemporaneously with commensurate authorities insisting that X never really existed. In physics, for instance, analysts might want to claim that Ptolemaic astronomy or aether theory or cold fusion was “dead” for the modern profession, but never go so far as to assert that the theory or concept had historically just been a figment of the imaginations of people who should never have been taken seriously all along. By contrast, this happens all the time in social thought: social theorists often attempt the torturous straddle of denying that some widespread concept ever really existed, while pronouncing last rites over the ectoplasmic corpse. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 74
Categorization
- DEFINE: Characterizes the peculiar epistemic habit of social theory versus natural science.
- corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 74
- XREF: connects to: Neoliberals themselves deny their doctrine ever existed while others prematurely proclaimed its death — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 75
Broader Connections
- Neoliberals themselves deny their doctrine ever existed while others prematurely proclaimed its death
#exemplifies(0.95) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 75