ABSTRACT
The argumentative turn in policy analysis and planning comes not at the expense of science-and still less, of rationality-but, rather, at the expense of unnecessarily constricted misconceptions of science and reason in human affairs. Science, on this mistaken account, consists of a single and universally applicable set of rules and procedures for the unambiguous establishment of causal relationships. Beyond the application of these rules and procedures and acceptance of their results, rationality consists of determining the best means to a given end.
