Three Dogmas of Materialist Pragmatism: A Critique of a Recent Attempt to Provide a Science of Educational Administration
Abstract
Examines the claim that materialist pragmatism is more coherent than alternative accounts of educational administration. Argues that the criteria of coherence provided by materialist pragmatists lack overall coherence and that there are no means for choosing between theories in the way they suggest. Arguments against the separation of factual and evaluative realms are unconvincing, and the materialist pragmatists′ claims that they have avoided foundationalism while providing a non‐positivist theory of science are questionable. Suggests that the administration of education requires a concrete rather than an abstract approach such as materialist pragmatism provides. Concludes with the thought that it is through the relentless criticism of all conceptualization that philosophy provides its service to educational administration.
Keywords
Citation
Maddock, T.H. (1994), "Three Dogmas of Materialist Pragmatism: A Critique of a Recent Attempt to Provide a Science of Educational Administration", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 5-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578239410069089
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 1994, MCB UP Limited