Introduction

This chapter explains conception of the role of conceptual analysis and the contribution it might make to discussion of welfare, where technical, would-be technical, and everyday terms are somewhat haphazardly used and insufficient attention is given. It argues that every subject of welfare discussion must be capable of a certain sort of description, and that every welfare activity must be capable of a certain sort of explanation. The chapter considers the implications of the accounts of identification and explanation using examples of welfare talk taken from some well-known texts. It is concerned with the field of social welfare discourse which contains technical, would-be technical and 'everyday' terns. The chapter also argues that every subject of welfare discussion must be capable of a certain sort of description, and that every human welfare activity must be capable of a certain sort of explanation.