Description
This first volume has as its main focus the philosophical foundations of Michalos’ work and describes it in the broad context of the study of logic, the philosophy of social sciences, and a general theory of value. After distinguishing things that have value from the value that things might have, it describes the foundations of a pragmatic theory of value. This theory plays a key role in the author’s research on the quality of life and connects his empirical research to the philosophical tradition of the American pragmatists William James, Ralph Barton Perry, John Dewey and Clarence Irving Lewis. The volume addresses various aspects and issues concerning decision making, including decision procedures used in committees, used for assessing the acceptability of scientific theories and new technologies, procedures for a science court, ethical issues involved in the formation of beliefs, some limitations of classical economists’ alleged postulates of rational preference, and the importanceof analytic guides to decision making. Finally, it describes the organization of the Social Sciences Federation of Canada and a formal accounting system for scientific research.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction: Context and Connections.- Chapter 2. Alex C. Michalos: Pioneer of Quality of Life and Social Indicators; Bruno Zumbo.- Chapter 3. An Interview with Alex C. Michalos; Dan Weijers.- Chapter 4. The Best Teacher I Ever Had Was J. Coert Rylaarsdam.- Chapter 5. The Case for Atheism, Notes for a Discussion; Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 6. Logic, Philosophy of Science and the Quality of Life: In Philosophy and World Problem; Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 7. Philosophy of Social Science; Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 8. Postulates of Rational Preference; Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 9. Decision making in Committees; Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 10. Analytic and Other 'Dumb' Guides for Life; Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 11. The Mortality of Cognitive Decision-Meking (Ethics of Beliefs); Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 12. Meeting Current Needs; Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 13. A Reconsideration of the Idea of a Science Court; Alex C. Michalos.-Chapter 14. Technology Assessment, Facts and Values; Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 15. A Pragmatic Theory of Value; Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 16. Creating a Culture of Support for Social Sciences: Lessons from the first Forty Years of the social Sciences Federation of Canada; Alex C. Michalos.- Chapter 17. Notes for a System of Scientific Research Reports Accounts: Paper Presented at a Conference at the Berlin Institute for Social Research; Alex C. Michalos.
