Social science must not rest on unexamined personal intuition

Evidence

We often tend to suppose our quick, even sloppy intuitions or insights are foundational and not merely casual, as though they were innate rather than randomly collected from diverse acquaintances and other sources, often misguided sources. Casual accounts might even not distinguish trust in another person, trust in a fact of nature, and trust in an institution, such as money or government. In general, however, we should not indulge a so-called social science that depends on no more than a personal intuition that X must be so and that is not spelled out for others to question, test, and understand it. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 287

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes trust in persons, facts of nature, and institutions as distinct objects that casual accounts conflate.
• APHORISMS: A genuine methodological maxim: intuitions must be spelled out so others can question and test them.