We did not design rules through our reason, but rather we developed reason because we followed rules. This is not conservatism, because no social rule is exempt from our critical scrutiny, but it is a position which insists that the critique must of necessity always privilege some rule context while holding others up for examination – it is impossible to step outside of all context and employ
reason. The
critical rationalist, as opposed to the
rational constructivist, realizes that social experimentation takes place against a backdrop of the customary beliefs and traditions of society. Experimentation cannot be of the root and branch sort, but instead is limited to bold acts on the margin which, if successful, often loop back and mutate previously held beliefs, thus leading to social change.
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