IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/tjisxx/v27y2018i3p347-366.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Phronesis, argumentation and puzzle solving in IS research: illustrating an approach to phronetic IS research practice

Author

Listed:
  • Ojelanki Ngwenyama
  • Stefan Klein
  • Nik Rushdi Hassan
  • John Mingers
  • Bernd Stahl

Abstract

The embedding of information systems (IS) infrastructure into everyday social activity is creating intractable value conflicts for society. However, IS research largely focuses on: (1) episteme, explanatory and predictive theories; and (2) techné, theories of action for implementation and management of IS technologies. Consequently, we lack applicable knowledge for deliberating about IS value conflicts. The third type of knowledge, phronesis, which Aristotle proposed to inform ethical application of episteme and techné, has not been given much attention in our discipline. Presently, we are experiencing a critical limitation in our capabilities for generating ethically applicable IS knowledge in the face of increasing value conflicts arising from pervasive digitalisation. In this paper, we introduce phronesis, discuss its philosophical foundations and illustrate an approach to phronetic enquiry into the underlying value conflicts of a failed national IS infrastructure project. Our aim is to strengthen and expand IS research methods for systematic critical enquiry into social-values dilemmas resulting from continued embedding of IS technologies into our social world.

Suggested Citation

  • Ojelanki Ngwenyama & Stefan Klein & Nik Rushdi Hassan & John Mingers & Bernd Stahl, 2018. "Phronesis, argumentation and puzzle solving in IS research: illustrating an approach to phronetic IS research practice," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 347-366, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:tjisxx:v:27:y:2018:i:3:p:347-366
    DOI: 10.1080/0960085X.2018.1435229
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/0960085X.2018.1435229
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/0960085X.2018.1435229?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:tjisxx:v:27:y:2018:i:3:p:347-366. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/tjis .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.