ABSTRACT
A foremost possibility is that the human sciences can develop only by humans becoming conscious of the ongoing achievements of the human sciences. Sober book Usable Knowledge Charles Lindblom and David Cohen focus on the social sciences, arguing that what they call professional social inquiry (PSI) is of very limited value. It pretends to scientific authority but tends to be mainly of ideological significance and to be used to justify policies arrived at by other means. There is a way to deal scientifically with the social interactions upon which Lindblom and Cohen focus and upon whose outcome they predicate their ordinary, useful knowledge: seeking to understand the nature of unintended consequences. With such understanding, the chapter attempts to exert control over social interactions, thus paradoxically introducing intention into what is otherwise unintended. In considering the prospects of the human sciences, the chapter looks at the connection between unintended consequences and emergent phenomena.
