Problems of Involvement and Detachment

 

Ordered group life depends on an interplay of human actions which are constituted both by involvement and detachment. But scientific behavior to advance must be constituted predominantly of detachment. The fact that the scientist is an integral part of what he studies makes scientific detachment difficult in the social sciences. Yet man must be involved with men in order to understand not only how they act but also why they act and what is the meaning of their acts. Another problem is that physical science models are inadequate for the study of man. A paradigm for the social sciences is very much needed. 

 

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