Att studera det önskvärda — om värdeanalys och normativ metod

Abstract

Analyzing the desirable. On values and normative methodology. Over the last decades there has been a growing interest in normative theory within the social sciences in general and political science in particular. Timeless questions of good and bad, right and wrong, and of the nature and justification of the good society-of what the good society ought to be-have thus surfaced again. Yet, however, not much has been written on the specific methodological issues that arise when explicitly approaching normative questions on social social scientific, i.e. systematic and inter-subjective, grounds. Departing from a reflection concerning the conceptual meaning of norms and values-the anchor of normative analysis-and by confronting different axiological positions, this essay formulates a few guiding principles for a normative methodology. These principles include requirements on internal validity (accuracy, consistency, clarity, coherence, and intersubjective reasoning) as well as external validity (external justification, plausibility, and empirical relevance).