RELEVANCE AND RATIONALITY IN LEISURE STUDIES - A PLEA FOR GOOD REASON

The issue of relevance cannot be separated from a concern for values. Yet convention in rational inquiry has rigidly segregated values (moral knowledge) from facts (empirical knowledge). At one time, moral and empirical knowledge coexisted, offering a theory of reason able to account for matters of moral relevance. Among other factors, instrumental rationality and positivism undermined the relationship of empirical science and moral philosophy. A reconciliation between facts and values, providing a more ''reasonable theory of reason'' better suited to moral relevance, is possible. It will require a more diverse and broader approach to inquiry that integratively includes empirical, interpretive, and critical methods. Several suggestions are presented for consideration by leisure studies researchers.