Illegitimacy as norm: On the temporality of science and theory

Abstract

Starting with Max Weber’s overlooked invocation of philology as the model of scholarly specialization in “Science as Vocation,” Wetters seeks to differentiate the variant modalities of philosophy, science, and theory. Weber’s fundamental question of the relation of science, progress and vocation are traced historically as a debate with Strauss, Blumenberg, and Gumbrecht. In conclusion, Löwith’s dispute with Blumenberg on theory’s unavoidable reliance on genealogy reveals its susceptibility to historical contingencies and political exigencies. Wetters argues that the legitimacy of “theory” in the humanities and social sciences paradoxically depends on the recognition of its relative illegitimacy. To avoid pitfalls of dogmatism, pseudo-philosophy and pseudoscience, valid theory must retain the philologist’s critical, genealogical and temporal self-awareness.