Planning and Philosophy: The Anthropology of Action

Abstract

Value neutrality is a problem that has perplexed planners and other policy scientists for a long time. Richard Klosterman has attempted to resolve this problem in a recent series of articles in planning journals. His effort is ambitious and interesting; and it evidently has general appeal. Part of this appeal can be seen in similar work addressing these issues in parallel ways in associated areas. Moreover, these concerns reach beyond the applications in the planning and policy sciences into the fundamental roots of the social sciences. The argument is instructive, for it points to deeper difficulties about the logic of evaluation that, in turn, raise problems about description and explanation of action, particularly the intentionality of action These problems are explored by means of a planning fable. The exploration raises pervasive doubts about the possibility of finding effective procedures for settling disputes in planning and policy making; and, beyond that, about the status of the social sciences as a relevant base for evaluating plans and planning. A more adequate anthropology is needed which would take the intentionality of action more seriously

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