Social Justice and the Legitimation of Aggressive Behavior

Abstract

There are three ways in which philosophy, as I see it, is concerned with social psychological topics such as aggression:

• 1. Conceptual clarification. Philosophy brings to bear its analytical competence on the analysis of key concepts, which those working with these concepts in their everyday research often lack the necessary distance to view in a sufficiently detached and comprehensive perspective. Philosophical analysis should not be seen as a rival, but rather as a cooperative enterprise.

• 2. Rational criticism of methods used, interpretations imposed on the data, and possible normative proposals derived from these interpretations. In close cooperation with scientific methodology, philosophy contributes to the rational assessment of the credibility, import, and scope of a scientific theory in the light of such criteria as consistence, coherence, systematic unity, explicitness, rigor and evidential support.

• 3. The last and most representative concern of philosophy in respect to psychological research is the integration of psychological results in an overall view of human nature.