Table Of ContentEmpirical Research and Normative Theory
Empirical
Research and
Normative Theory
Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Two Methodical
Traditions Between Separation and Interdependence
Edited by
Alexander Max Bauer and Malte Ingo Meyerhuber
ISBN 978-3-11-061209-7
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-061379-7
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-061214-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020931456
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Cover image: M.C. Escher’s “Hand with Reflecting Sphere” © 2018 The M.C. Escher Company,
The Netherlands. All rights reserved. www.mcescher.com
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
Foreword
There has long been an active and highly sophisticated debate, cutting across
multiple disciplines,about the relationship between empirical scienceand nor-
mative theory. In recent years, however, this discussion has taken on a special
urgencythatitdidnotpreviouslyhave.Thekeychangehasnotarisenprimarily
fromanyshift in our understandingat a moreabstract level of the relationship
between the two fields. Rather, the change has come, at least in the first in-
stance, from recent advances in our understanding of specific concrete issues
in the empirical sciences themselves.
Back when I first entered academia, much of the work on the relationship
between empirical science and normative theory had a more hypothetical or
metaphilosophical character. Often, a paper would begin by asking the reader
toimagine that scientists of the future find an answer to some question of nor-
mativeimportance.“Supposescientistsofthefutureuncoverthefactorsthatde-
terminehowhappyapersonfeels”.“Supposescientistsfigureoutpreciselywhat
is happening in people’s minds when they make moral judgments”. “Suppose
scientists are able to remove your brain, place it in a vat, and stimulate it in
such a way that you have precisely the experiences you would have if you
were leading a deeply satisfying and rewarding life”. The inquiry would then
be concernedwithwhatweshould conclude within normative theory if empiri-
cal science ever did advance to this point.
As even a brief glance at the chapters included in this volume will show,
workon these issues has takenaverydifferent turn over the past fewdecades.
We have seen truly remarkable strides within empirical science on exactly the
sorts of questions that seem most directly relevant to normative theory and, as
adirectresult,theemergenceofseriousresearchprogrammesdevotedtoexplor-
ingindetailtheimplicationsofthosefindings.Inshort,workonthesequestions
isnolongermerelyhypotheticalormetaphilosophical;itisgenuinelynormative.
Thequestionswefacethesedaysaremostlynotoftheform“Supposescientists
ofthefuture…”butratheroftheform“Giventhatempiricalscienceactuallyhas
discovered…,whatshould wenowconclude about howhuman beings ought to
live?”
Oneofthemoststrikingaspectsofthisnewformofinquiryisitsconspicu-
ous interdisciplinarity. If we are to explore in any serious way the relationship
between empirical research and normative theory, we will need to rely on in-
sights from an enormous variety of different disciplines: philosophy, sure, but
also psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and many others be-
sides.Thepresentvolumethereforeofferspreciselywhatisneeded–notsimply
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110613797-001
VI Foreword
aconversationamongdifferentresearchersinthesamedisciplinebutamorefar-
reaching discussion that cuts across disciplines that were, at least at one time,
farmoreinsulatedfromoneanother.Thisisthediscussionweneedtobehaving,
and one that I hope this volume will help to develop and further encourage.
New Haven,Connecticut, September 2019 Joshua Knobe
Preface
Thisvolumeshedssomelightonthewidefieldoftensionthatopensupbetween
isandought.Withthecontributionsgatheredinit,wehopetoprovideyou,the
reader,withsomeinterestinginsightsintothecontroversialdebatessurrounding
therelationshipbetweenisandoughtaswellasbetweenempiricalresearchand
normativetheory.Weinviteyoutojoinusandourauthorsinreflectingcritically
onthisareaoftensionandwishyoustimulatingreading,justaswehadastim-
ulating time compiling the volume. – It goes back to an international summer
school on this topic, which took place from October 28 to 29, 2017. The event
wasorganisedbytheeditorsaspartofthe“OldenburgSchoolfortheSocialSci-
encesandtheHumanities”andfeaturedcontributionsbyMaxAgostini,Martijn
Boot,MaartenDerksen,NiklasDworazik,CarlosA.deMatosFernandes,Andrea
Klonschinski, Jannis Kreienkamp, Marvin Kunz, Albert W. Musschenga, Elsa
Romfeld,HannoSauer,SebastianSchleidgen,MarkSchweda,andLarsSchwett-
mann,aswellastwopubliclecturesbyStefanMüller-DoohmandPhilippHübl.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them once again, as
wellastheGraduateSchoolforSocialSciencesandtheHumanities (3GO)–es-
pecially its coordinator Rea Kodalle and our assistants Lukas Brüggen, Philipp
Kochan, and Isabel Sturm – under whose roof the event took place. It was
also made possible by the support of the Foundation and Innovation Centre,
the General Student Committee (AStA), the Institute of Philosophy, as well as
theFacultiesIIandIVoftheCarlvonOssietzkyUniversityofOldenburg,theRe-
searchTrainingGroup“Self-Making–PracticesofSubjectivation”oftheGerman
Research Foundation (DFG), and the doctoral programmes “Cultures of Partici-
pation” and “Border Formations in Migration Societies”.
ForbothofusthepresentandtheGermanvolumePhilosophiezwischenSein
undSollen–NormativeTheorieundempirischeForschungimSpannungsfeldwere
thefirstprojectsofthiskind.Fortunately,wewereabletofallbackontheexpe-
rienceof others.Theory and practice,however, aretwo different pairs of shoes.
Andthat’sprobablyhowitstandswithexperiencesaswell:Youcanhearorread
aboutthem;butmakingthemyourself issomethingcompletelydifferent.Chris-
tophSchirmerandTimVogelofWalterdeGruyter,inparticular,supportedusin
collectingtheseexperiencesandwerealwayspatientandhelpful.Moreover,we
thank Oliver Schoenbeck for important insights, Mark Siebel for his valuable
support,aswellasOdaSiqvelandandPalomaHammondofSpringerformaking
JamesKonow’sreprintpossible.Wealsocollectedourexperiencestogetherwith
our authors,with whom it was a great pleasure to work together:Without Max
Agostini,KurtBeyertz,DanielFüger,CarlosA.deMatosFernandes,Guillermina
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110613797-002
VIII Preface
Jasso, James Konow, Jannis Kreienkamp, Marvin Kunz, Marcel Mertz, Sylke
Meyerhuber, David Miller, Albert W. Musschenga, Norbert Paulo, Philip Penew,
Elsa Romfeld, Sebastian Schleidgen, Reinhard Schulz, Mark Schweda, Lars
Schwettmann, Widukind Andreas Schweiberer, Stephen J. Sullivan, and Peter
WiersbinskithepresentandtheGermanvolumewouldn’tbewhattheyare.Fur-
thermore, we are grateful for the copy-editing by Gisella Vorderobermeier and
Konrad Vorderobermeier. All remaining errors, of course, are our own. We
would also like to thank Margareth Verbakel of the M.C. Escher Company for
theopportunitytouseEscher’s“HandwithReflectingSphere”asacoverimage.
Moreover, we have to thank our friends. Many thanks go to Wolfgang Alt-
mann, Tobias Horst Bocklage, Ann-Christin Gerber, Emily Dora Heitmann, Kai
Henke,JonasFerdinandHilgefort,HaukeKolweyh,GerritKolweyh,FelixMitrov-
ics,Tibor Mitrovics, Anna Nitzsche, Ulrieke Offermann, Linda Tezlow, and the
whole Zomer family. Lena Marie Zomer proved to be particularly patient. Not
to forget Jessica Allermann, Jan Romann, Xenia Sharon Wolfgramm, and
Marco Zieger. Thanks are also due to our parents. Marion and Manfred Bauer
as well as Ursel and Udo Meyerhuber have once again proven to be extremely
patient.
Bremen, November 2018 Alexander Max Bauer
and Malte Ingo Meyerhuber
Table of Contents
Foreword V
Preface VII
List of Abbreviations XI
Alexander Max Bauer and Malte Ingo Meyerhuber
Introduction 1
Alexander Max Bauer and Malte Ingo Meyerhuber
Two Worlds on the Brinkof Colliding
On the Relationship Between Empirical Research and Normative
Theory 11
Sylke Meyerhuber
Normative Theories and Their Influence on Empirical Research
Theoretical Expositions and Practical Examples from a Qualitative
Researcher in Applied Social Psychology 35
Jannis Kreienkamp, Maximilian Agostini, Marvin Kunz, Malte Ingo Meyerhuber,
and Carlos A. de Matos Fernandes
Normative Influences in Science and Their Impact on (Objective) Empirical
Research 75
Guillermina Jasso
Is and Ought
From Ideas to Theory to Empirics 105
Albert W. Musschenga
Empirically Informed Moral Intuitionism 129
Norbert Paulo
A Principle of Psychological Realism for Moral Epistemology 151
X TableofContents
Stephen J. Sullivan
Moral Epistemology Naturalised
Theory Justification in Ethics and Science 169
Marcel Mertz
Empirical Incursions
Or How Empirical Information May Influence the Validity of a Moral
Norm 189
James Konow
Is Fairness in the Eye of the Beholder?
An Impartial Spectator Analysis of Justice 237
David Miller
Needs-Based Justice
Theory and Evidence 273
Lars Schwettmann
A Simple Vote Won’t Do It
Empirical Social Choice and the Fair Allocation of Health Care
Resources 295
Peter Wiersbinski
Conceiving the Anthropological Difference as a Categorical Divide
Is There Any Room Left for Empirical Research? 317
Alexander Max Bauer and Malte Ingo Meyerhuber
Epilogue
On Doxa and Aletheia 337
List of Contributors 343
Index of Names 347
Index of Subjects 349
