Philosophy and Organization Theory Research in the Sociology of Organizations

What is the relationship between philosophy and organization theory (OT)? While at first glance there might appear to be little, a closer look reveals a rich pattern of connections. More than any other type of human inquiry, philosophy helps make us self-aware of critical assumptions we tacitly incorporate in our organizational theorizing; it creates a deeper awareness of the 'unconscious metaphysics' underpinning our efforts to understand organizations. There are at least three ways in which philosophical analysis is connected with organizational research: ontological, epistemological, and praxeological. To wonder about what the phenomena we investigate are constituted by, how we may obtain knowledge of them, and how that knowledge is related to action, is to begin to think philosophically about OT. Philosophical questions are higher-order questions - meta to OT as a scientific discipline; they are generated from outside the frameworks within which organizational scientists carry out their research practices. When the very frameworks of scientific inquiry, hitherto tacitly accepted for the practice of scientific research to be carried out, become questionable, philosophical reflection enters the scene. Philosophy keeps meaning open in a scientific field. Papers in this volume explore connections between several streams in philosophy and OT. As the titles of the papers suggest, most authors write about a particular philosopher or group of philosophers that make up a distinct school of thought, summarize important aspects of his/their work, and tease out the implications for OT. The central question authors explore is: 'what does a particular philosophy contribute to OT?' Either addressing this question in historical or exploratory terms, or in a combination of both, the end result is similar: particular philosophical issues, properly explained, are discussed in relation to important questions in OT TITLE PAGE ......Page 4 COPYRIGHT PAGE......Page 5 CONTENTS......Page 6 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS......Page 8 ADVISORY BOARD......Page 10 INTRODUCTION: WHY PHILOSOPHY MATTERS TO ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 12 ABOUT THIS VOLUME......Page 27 REFERENCES......Page 29 ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY AND ORGANIZATION THEORY: PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS AND SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS......Page 34 INTRODUCTION......Page 35 ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES......Page 36 LOGICAL EMPIRICISM AND THE PROBLEM WITH FOUNDATIONS IN ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 43 PARADIGMS AND THEIR POSTMODERNIST COUSINS IN ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 47 PHILOSOPHICAL ANSWERS AND SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS: NATURALISM AND ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 53 CONCLUSION......Page 58 REFERENCES......Page 59 PRAGMATISM: A LIVED AND LIVING PHILOSOPHY. WHAT CAN IT OFFER TO CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATION THEORY?......Page 66 INTRODUCTION......Page 67 THE CLASSICAL PRAGMATISTS IN CONTEXT......Page 70 FOUR KEY THEMES IN PRAGMATISM......Page 74 PRAGMATISM IN ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING......Page 81 PRAGMATISM, PRACTICE AND SENSEMAKING......Page 86 CONCLUSION......Page 90 REFERENCES......Page 92 MACINTYRE, NEO-ARISTOTELIANISM AND ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 96 PART ONE: PRACTICES – HERMENEUTIC AND MACINTYREAN......Page 97 PART TWO: MACINTYREAN ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 106 PART THREE: MACINTYREAN ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS: A REWORKING OF WEICK AND SUTCLIFFE ON THE BRISTOL RVI......Page 117 PART FOUR: CONCLUSION – AN AGENDA FOR MACINTYREAN ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 122 NOTES......Page 124 REFERENCES......Page 126 MARXIST PHILOSOPHY AND ORGANIZATION STUDIES: MARXIST CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOME IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONAL FORMS......Page 134 MARXISM: KEY IDEAS......Page 135 THE SCOPE OF MARXIST THEORY......Page 145 MARXIST PERSPECTIVES ON SOME ORGANIZATIONAL FORMS......Page 147 MARXISM’S CRITICS......Page 155 IN LIEU OF A CONCLUSION......Page 157 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 158 REFERENCES......Page 159 BEYOND UNIVERSALISM AND RELATIVISM: HABERMAS’S CONTRIBUTION TO DISCOURSE ETHICS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERCULTURAL ETHICS AND ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 166 INTRODUCTION......Page 167 THE ’UNITY OF REASON’ AND ITS CRITIQUE IN POSTMODERN PHILOSOPHY......Page 168 DISCOURSE ETHICS AND ITS MODES OF (INTERCULTURAL) JUSTIFICATION......Page 171 CONCLUSION: ON THE POSSIBILITY OF AN INTERCULTURAL ETHICS......Page 181 REFERENCES......Page 184 HERMENEUTIC PHILOSOPHY AND ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY......Page 192 HERMENEUTICS: A BRIEF HISTORY......Page 193 META-THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS THAT GUIDE ORGANIZATION STUDIES......Page 204 HERMENEUTICS AND ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH......Page 207 CONCLUSIONS......Page 217 NOTES......Page 219 REFERENCES......Page 220 PHENOMENOLOGY AND ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 226 INTRODUCTION......Page 227 PHENOMENOLOGY......Page 228 TRACING THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ROOTS OF ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 236 DISCUSSION: SOME MAJOR MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF PHENOMENOLOGY IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH......Page 248 REFERENCES......Page 254 ORGANIZING DERRIDA ORGANIZING: DECONSTRUCTION AND ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 262 DECONSTRUCTION: ORGANIZING DERRIDA......Page 265 DECONSTRUCTION AND ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 269 THREE APORIAS: DERRIDA ORGANIZING......Page 273 IMPLICATIONS OF DECONSTRUCTIVE THINKING......Page 284 REFERENCES......Page 288 THINKING BECOMING AND EMERGENCE: PROCESS PHILOSOPHY AND ORGANIZATION STUDIES......Page 292 INTRODUCTION......Page 293 SUBSTANCE ONTOLOGY AND ORGANIZATION THEORY......Page 295 PROCESS PHILOSOPHY AND BECOMING ONTOLOGY......Page 299 IMPLICATIONS: A PROCESSUAL UNDERSTANDING OF COLLECTIVE SENSEMAKING, ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP......Page 307 CONCLUSIONS......Page 315 REFERENCES......Page 316 THEORY AS THERAPY: WITTGENSTEINIAN REMINDERS FOR REFLECTIVE THEORIZING IN ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT THEORY......Page 322 FOREGROUNDING OUR ’BACKGROUND’ PRACTICES......Page 325 WITTGENSTEIN’S PHILOSOPHY: A ’PRECURSOR’ WORLD......Page 329 WITTGENSTEIN’S WAYS WITH WORDS......Page 332 PRACTICAL-DESCRIPTIVE ORGANIZATION THEORY: TOWARDS REFLECTIVE THEORIZING......Page 338 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS: FROM MAPS TO PORTRAYALS......Page 343 NOTES......Page 348 ACKNOWLEDGMENT......Page 349 REFERENCES......Page 350 TRIANGULATING PHILOSOPHIES OF SCIENCE TO UNDERSTAND COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONAL AND MANAGERIAL PROBLEMS......Page 354 INTRODUCTION......Page 355 PHILOSOPHIES OF SCIENCE......Page 356 TRIANGULATION......Page 360 CASE OF PROFESSIONAL GROUPS......Page 363 TYPES OF PROBLEMS THAT REQUIRE TRIANGULATION......Page 369 CONCLUSION......Page 370 NOTES......Page 371 REFERENCES......Page 372 RICHARD RORTY, WOMEN, AND THE NEW PRAGMATISM......Page 376 MY FIRST MEETING WITH NEW PRAGMATISM......Page 377 WHERE IS TRUTH?......Page 379 PRAGMATIST MANIFESTO......Page 383 SOLIDARITY IN THE CENTER OF THINGS......Page 384 ETHNOCENTRISM?......Page 386 ON METHOD......Page 387 DOES EVERYBODY LIKE RORTY? PRAGMATISM AND FEMINISM......Page 389 NOTES......Page 391 REFERENCES......Page 392 TITLE PAGE 4 COPYRIGHT PAGE 5 CONTENTS 6 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS 8 ADVISORY BOARD 10 INTRODUCTION: WHY PHILOSOPHY MATTERS TO ORGANIZATION THEORY 12 ABOUT THIS VOLUME 27 REFERENCES 29 ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY AND ORGANIZATION THEORY: PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS AND SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS 34 INTRODUCTION 35 ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES 36 LOGICAL EMPIRICISM AND THE PROBLEM WITH FOUNDATIONS IN ORGANIZATION THEORY 43 PARADIGMS AND THEIR POSTMODERNIST COUSINS IN ORGANIZATION THEORY 47 PHILOSOPHICAL ANSWERS AND SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS: NATURALISM AND ORGANIZATION THEORY 53 CONCLUSION 58 REFERENCES 59 PRAGMATISM: A LIVED AND LIVING PHILOSOPHY. WHAT CAN IT OFFER TO CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATION THEORY? 66 INTRODUCTION 67 THE CLASSICAL PRAGMATISTS IN CONTEXT 70 FOUR KEY THEMES IN PRAGMATISM 74 PRAGMATISM IN ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING 81 PRAGMATISM, PRACTICE AND SENSEMAKING 86 CONCLUSION 90 REFERENCES 92 MACINTYRE, NEO-ARISTOTELIANISM AND ORGANIZATION THEORY 96 INTRODUCTION 97 PART ONE: PRACTICES – HERMENEUTIC AND MACINTYREAN 97 PART TWO: MACINTYREAN ORGANIZATION THEORY 106 PART THREE: MACINTYREAN ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS: A REWORKING OF WEICK AND SUTCLIFFE ON THE BRISTOL RVI 117 PART FOUR: CONCLUSION – AN AGENDA FOR MACINTYREAN ORGANIZATION THEORY 122 NOTES 124 REFERENCES 126 MARXIST PHILOSOPHY AND ORGANIZATION STUDIES: MARXIST CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOME IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONAL FORMS 134 INTRODUCTION 135 MARXISM: KEY IDEAS 135 THE SCOPE OF MARXIST THEORY 145 MARXIST PERSPECTIVES ON SOME ORGANIZATIONAL FORMS 147 MARXISM’S CRITICS 155 IN LIEU OF A CONCLUSION 157 NOTES 158 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 158 REFERENCES 159 BEYOND UNIVERSALISM AND RELATIVISM: HABERMAS’S CONTRIBUTION TO DISCOURSE ETHICS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERCULTURAL ETHICS AND ORGANIZATION THEORY 166 INTRODUCTION 167 THE ’UNITY OF REASON’ AND ITS CRITIQUE IN POSTMODERN PHILOSOPHY 168 DISCOURSE ETHICS AND ITS MODES OF (INTERCULTURAL) JUSTIFICATION 171 CONCLUSION: ON THE POSSIBILITY OF AN INTERCULTURAL ETHICS 181 REFERENCES 184 HERMENEUTIC PHILOSOPHY AND ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY 192 INTRODUCTION 193 HERMENEUTICS: A BRIEF HISTORY 193 META-THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS THAT GUIDE ORGANIZATION STUDIES 204 HERMENEUTICS AND ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH 207 CONCLUSIONS 217 NOTES 219 REFERENCES 220 PHENOMENOLOGY AND ORGANIZATION THEORY 226 INTRODUCTION 227 PHENOMENOLOGY 228 TRACING THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ROOTS OF ORGANIZATION THEORY 236 DISCUSSION: SOME MAJOR MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF PHENOMENOLOGY IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 248 NOTE 254 REFERENCES 254 ORGANIZING DERRIDA ORGANIZING: DECONSTRUCTION AND ORGANIZATION THEORY 262 DECONSTRUCTION: ORGANIZING DERRIDA 265 DECONSTRUCTION AND ORGANIZATION THEORY 269 THREE APORIAS: DERRIDA ORGANIZING 273 IMPLICATIONS OF DECONSTRUCTIVE THINKING 284 REFERENCES 288 THINKING BECOMING AND EMERGENCE: PROCESS PHILOSOPHY AND ORGANIZATION STUDIES 292 INTRODUCTION 293 SUBSTANCE ONTOLOGY AND ORGANIZATION THEORY 295 PROCESS PHILOSOPHY AND BECOMING ONTOLOGY 299 IMPLICATIONS: A PROCESSUAL UNDERSTANDING OF COLLECTIVE SENSEMAKING, ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 307 CONCLUSIONS 315 REFERENCES 316 THEORY AS THERAPY: WITTGENSTEINIAN REMINDERS FOR REFLECTIVE THEORIZING IN ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT THEORY 322 FOREGROUNDING OUR ’BACKGROUND’ PRACTICES 325 WITTGENSTEIN’S PHILOSOPHY: A ’PRECURSOR’ WORLD 329 WITTGENSTEIN’S WAYS WITH WORDS 332 PRACTICAL-DESCRIPTIVE ORGANIZATION THEORY: TOWARDS REFLECTIVE THEORIZING 338 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS: FROM MAPS TO PORTRAYALS 343 NOTES 348 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 349 REFERENCES 350 TRIANGULATING PHILOSOPHIES OF SCIENCE TO UNDERSTAND COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONAL AND MANAGERIAL PROBLEMS 354 INTRODUCTION 355 PHILOSOPHIES OF SCIENCE 356 TRIANGULATION 360 CASE OF PROFESSIONAL GROUPS 363 TYPES OF PROBLEMS THAT REQUIRE TRIANGULATION 369 CONCLUSION 370 NOTES 371 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 372 REFERENCES 372 RICHARD RORTY, WOMEN, AND THE NEW PRAGMATISM 376 MY FIRST MEETING WITH NEW PRAGMATISM 377 WHERE IS TRUTH? 379 PRAGMATIST MANIFESTO 383 SOLIDARITY IN THE CENTER OF THINGS 384 ETHNOCENTRISM? 386 ON METHOD 387 DOES EVERYBODY LIKE RORTY? PRAGMATISM AND FEMINISM 389 NOTES 391 REFERENCES 392 9780857245953 Annotation The papers in this volume explore connections between several streams in philosophy and organization theory. The individual authors summarize important aspects of their work and tease out the implications for organization theory