Philosophy is nagging. It conjoles students into asking questions about
basic assumptions, it generates doubts and uncertainties, and, it is said,
it keeps people from getting their work done. Many appear to believe
that it is better to leave the unanswerable questions and unsolvable
problems alone and get down to brass tacks. I regard such attitudes as
short-sighted. Core concepts in the social sciences are philosophical in
nature: Objectivity, Validity, Truth, Fact, Theory, Structure. Why neglect
to examine them, even if their examination will never yield a single
unassailable meaning? (pp. 4–5)