On Justification: Economies of Worth (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology)

A vital and underappreciated dimension of social interaction is the way individuals justify their actions to others, instinctively drawing on their experience to appeal to principles they hope will command respect. Individuals, however, often misread situations, and many disagreements can be explained by people appealing, knowingly and unknowingly, to different principles. __On Justification__ is the first English translation of Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot's ambitious theoretical examination of these phenomena, a book that has already had a huge impact on French sociology and is likely to have a similar influence in the English-speaking world. In this foundational work of post-Bourdieu sociology, the authors examine a wide range of situations where people justify their actions. The authors argue that justifications fall into six main logics exemplified by six authors: civic (Rousseau), market (Adam Smith), industrial (Saint-Simon), domestic (Bossuet), inspiration (Augustine), and fame (Hobbes). The authors show how these justifications conflict, as people compete to legitimize their views of a situation. __On Justification__ is likely to spark important debates across the social sciences. Contents 7 Preface: How We Wrote This Book 13 Generalizing Field Observations and Producing Statistical Equivalency 13 Ordinary Identification and Scientific Qualification 15 From Comparison to Judgment 16 Construction of Proofs and Tension between the General and the Particular 19 The Tension between Different Forms of Generality 20 Attention to Critical Operations 22 Generality and the Common Good: Concepts of Worth in Political Philosophy 24 The Search for a Common Model 26 The Social Bond Put to the Test of Things 28 The Line of Argument 30 Part One: The Imperative to Justify 35 1. The Social Sciences and the Legitimacy of Agreement 37 The Critique of Sociology’s Lack of Realism 38 Individualism: A Different Social Metaphysics 39 Political Metaphysics as a Social Science 40 The Question of Agreement 43 Association and Forms of Generality 44 The Order of the General and the Particular 47 The Requirement of General Agreement and the Legitimacy of Order 49 The Reality Test and Prudent Judgment 52 2. The Foundation of Agreement in Political Philosophy: The Example of the Market Polity 55 A Social Bond Based on an Inclination toward Exchange in One’s Own Interest 56 Individuals in Concert in Their Lust for Goods 60 The Sympathetic Disposition and the Position of Impartial Spectator 65 Part Two: The Polities 75 3. Political Orders and a Model of Justice 77 Political Philosophies of the Common Good 78 The Polity Model 86 An Illegitimate Order: Eugenics 92 4. Political Forms of Worth 95 The Inspired Polity 95 The Domestic Polity 102 The Polity of Fame 110 The Civic Polity 119 The Industrial Polity 130 Part Three: The Common Worlds 137 5. Judgment Put to the Test 139 Situated Judgment 139 The Polity Extended to a Common World 142 Reporting on Situations 150 A Framework for Analyzing the Common Worlds 152 The Sense of the Common: The Moral Sense and the Sense of What Is Natural 156 The Arts of Living in Different Worlds 160 6. The Six Worlds 171 The Inspired World 171 The Domestic World 176 The World of Fame 190 The Civic World 197 The Market World 205 The Industrial World 215 Part Four: Critiques 225 7. Worlds in Conflict, Judgments in Question 227 Unveiling 227 Causes of Discord and the Transport of Worths 231 Clashes and Denunciations 235 The Monstrosity of Composite Setups 237 Setting Up Situations That Hold Together 240 The Humanity of an Equitable Judgment 243 Free Will: Knowing How to Close and Open One’s Eyes 244 8. The Critical Matrix 249 Critiques from the Inspired World 249 Critiques from the Domestic World 253 Critiques from the World of Fame 259 Critiques from the Civic World 263 Critiques from the Market World 273 Critiques from the Industrial World 281 Part Five: Assuaging Critical Tensions 287 9. Compromising for the Common Good 289 Beyond Testing to Compromising 289 The Fragility of Compromises 290 An Example of a Complex Figure: Denunciation Supported by Compromise 294 Composing Compromises and Forming Polities 295 Developing a State Compromise: Toward a Civic-Industrial Polity 297 10. Figures of Compromise 305 Compromises Involving the Inspired World 305 Compromises Involving the Domestic World 316 Compromises Involving the World of Fame 329 Compromises Involving the Civic World 337 Compromises Involving the Market World 344 11. Relativization 348 Private Arrangements 348 Insinuation 350 Flight from Justification 351 Relativism 352 Violence and Justification 355 Afterword: Toward a Pragmatics of Reflection 359 The Place of Justifications in the Gamut of Actions 359 Below the Level of Public Judgment: Determining the Appropriate Action in Light of a Snag 360 From Anger to Crisis 362 The Moment of Truth in Judgment 363 The Tension of Judgment and the Qualification of Ungraspable Persons 364 Judgment between Power and Oblivion 366 The Humane Use of Judgment and Tolerance in Action 367 Knowledge about Actions 368 Notes 371 Preface 371 Chapter 2 372 Chapter 3 372 Chapter 4 373 Chapter 5 376 Chapter 6 376 Chapter 7 376 Chapter 8 378 Chapter 9 378 Chapter 10 383 Chapter 11 383 Works Cited 387

A vital and underappreciated dimension of social interaction is the way individuals justify their actions to others, instinctively drawing on their experience to appeal to principles they hope will command respect. Individuals, however, often misread situations, and many disagreements can be explained by people appealing, knowingly and unknowingly, to different principles. On Justification is the first English translation of Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot's ambitious theoretical examination of these phenomena, a book that has already had a huge impact on French sociology and is likely to have a similar influence in the English-speaking world.

In this foundational work of post-Bourdieu sociology, the authors examine a wide range of situations where people justify their actions. The authors argue that justifications fall into six main logics exemplified by six authors: civic (Rousseau), market (Adam Smith), industrial (Saint-Simon), domestic (Bossuet), inspiration (Augustine), and fame (Hobbes). The authors show how these justifications conflict, as people compete to legitimize their views of a situation.

On Justification is likely to spark important debates across the social sciences.

A vital and underappreciated dimension of social interaction is the way individuals justify their actions to others, instinctively drawing on their experience to appeal to principles they hope will command respect. Individuals, however, often misread situations, and many disagreements can be explained by people appealing, knowingly and unknowingly, to different principles. On Justification is the first English translation of Luc Boltanski and Laurent ThГ©venot's ambitious theoretical examination of these phenomena, a book that has already had a huge impact on French sociology and is likely to have a similar influence in the English-speaking world. In this foundational work of post-Bourdieu sociology, the authors examine a wide range of situations where people justify their actions. The authors argue that justifications fall into six main logics exemplified by six authors: civic (Rousseau), market (Adam Smith), industrial (Saint-Simon), domestic (Bossuet), inspiration (Augustine), and fame (Hobbes). The authors show how these justifications conflict, as people compete to legitimize their views of a situation. On Justification is likely to spark important debates across the social sciences. Presenting a foundational work of post-Bourdieu sociology, this book examines situations where people justify their actions. The authors argue that justifications fall into six main logics exemplified by six authors: civic (Rousseau), market (Adam Smith), industrial (Saint-Simon), domestic (Bossuet), inspiration (Augustine), and fame (Hobbes) Luc Boltanski, Laurent Thévenot ; Translated By Catherine Porter. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [375]-389).