Facts, values and the life-world: epistemological arguments for evaluation in social management

Abstract

This article aims to show that the concept of life-world (lebenswelt) in Jürgen Habermas, and the refutation of the dichotomy ‘fact’ v. ‘value’ in Hilary Putnam may account epistemologically for the evaluation process in social management, which consists of explicating facts, values and their respective meanings shared inter-subjectively. The article presents the Map of Public Goods and the Semantic Map of ENCIR (Expectations, Needs, Capabilities, Interests and Representations), which are instruments of evaluative experience, arguing on this instruments ability to communicatively explain the meanings/interpretations emanating from the life-world of Public Constituents.