The new pragmatism, antiessentialism, and what is the universal: it’s the situation all the way down

Abstract

A well-known scientist once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: “What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.” The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, “What is the tortoise standing on?” “You’re very clever, young man,” said the old lady. “But it’s turtles all the way down!”

Citation

Abel, C.F. (2010), "The new pragmatism, antiessentialism, and what is the universal: it’s the situation all the way down", International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 111-138. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-13-01-2010-B006