Social humanities

With the rise to eminence and influence of scientists in recent years the distinction between scientific judgment and the judgment of scientists has been increasingly blurred. In particular, the meaning and definition of the social sciences and of their auxiliary or more applied disciplines has become confused. On the one hand, several value-centered undertakings such as policy analysis or planning have laid claim to status as sciences, while on the other hand, social scientists have increasingly attacked the legitimacy or reasonableness of the goal of value-free social science. Scientific publicists further confuse the discussion by arguing for the discovery of a value-free, scientific basis for society in which applied science equals policy. The result has been to damage the effectiveness of both scientific and nonscientific efforts, and to confuse the relationship of their activities in the minds of those who regularly feel compelled to cross a variety of scientific and nonscientific frontiers.     

The visionary task: Two sights-seeing

The essential feminist tension is dual vision, i.e. living in the world as men have fabricated it while creating the world as women imagine it could be. Dissociation from, assimilation to, and victimism in the world are three different forms of worldlessness to which women have been subject. All three militate against a vision of female friendship which locates women in the world. The author argues for a hopeful vision and reality of female friendship that avoids a misplaced optimism, shallow sentimentalism, and disillusioned pessimism about the possibilities of friendship among women.