When are theories (not) interesting?

A spirited account of what distinguishes interesting theories from non-interesting ones

Anne-Wil Harzing - (updated Thu 2 Jun 2022 14:28)

interesting

Murray Davis’ That’s interesting! is a true classic. Published in 1971, even after more than 45 years it has lost none of its relevance and is ideal for reflective Christmas reading.

  • Davis, M. S. (1971). That's interesting: Towards a phenomenology of sociology and a sociology of phenomenology. Philosophy of the social sciences, 1(4), 309.

In fact I would argue that the paper that the paper is even more relevant today in a time where many academic articles seem to engage mostly in “filling a gap in the literature”. Davis provides a spirited account of what distinguishes interesting theories from non-interesting ones. His main thesis is that all interesting theories in some way constitute an attack on the taken for granted world of their audience.

Read that's interesting

Davis’ paper is available at many university websites, but the “cleanest” copy can be found here. A very useful synopsis can be found here. It is well worth a read with the more reflective mood induced by the Christmas holidays. See you all in 2018.

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Copyright © 2022 Anne-Wil Harzing. All rights reserved. Page last modified on Thu 2 Jun 2022 14:28

Anne-Wil Harzing is Emerita Professor of International Management at Middlesex University, London and visiting professor of International Management at Tilburg University. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, a select group of distinguished AIB members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the scholarly development of the field of international business. In addition to her academic duties, she also maintains the Journal Quality List and is the driving force behind the popular Publish or Perish software program.

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