Abstract
Theories or statements which are called ‘normative’ are, in a traditional nutshell, concerned with what ought to be as distinct from what is. The present argument attempts to avoid any simplistic distinction of this sort, arguing that apprehensions of ‘what is’ are intimately related to understandings about ‘what ought to be’, whether these are understandings of norms and values in the political realm or norms in the epistemologies of systematic knowledge. Normative theory, as defined here, is based on the primacy of norms and normative systems and structures, and thus subverts the traditional distinctions of is/ought and fact/value by locating all foundations in value choice. Normative theory concerns both the structure of knowledge and the framework of political reference.1
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Notes
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© 1997 Hugh C. Dyer
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Dyer, H.C. (1997). Normative Innovations. In: Moral Order/World Order. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230376625_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230376625_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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