When clarity and consistency conflicts with empirical adequacy: conceptual engineering, anthropology, and Evans-Pritchard’s ethnography

Prof. Paulina Buchwald-Pelcowa (1934-2021) (Tomasz Makowski)

“…In his well-known handbook Abraham Kaplan noted: "Tolerance of ambiguity is as important for creativity in science as it is in anywhere else" (Kaplan, 1964, p. 71). Conceptual inconsistencies and unclarities may be beneficial for increasing empirical adequacy in such fields as anthropology (Djordjevic, 2020) or they may help integrate certain forms of knowledge, e.g. in biology (Neto, 2020).…”