External and Internal Critique

This document discusses the concepts of external and internal critique and their role in effecting societal change. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of each approach and provides examples to illustrate their effectiveness. The document also highlights the importance of considering cultural and religious factors when advocating for change.

External and Internal Critique
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External Critique
According to Kauppinen, there are two main forms of critique. These are external and
internal. The two forms of critique can be used to influence change in a behavioural or social
norm in the society. The first form involves using the standards that we have ourselves. This
form does not consider the standards that are shared by the society. This disregard explains
why it is referred to as external critique. External critique can take two main forms. The two
main forms are dependent on how the society generally regards the values the standards that
the critiquing person is using1. The first form of external which is also regarded as the
weakest is simply based on our existing norms. For instance, it is generally accepted that
women should not be forced to wear veils in modern societies. As a result of this, countries
that practice this should stop forcing women to wear veils without their willingness. There
are several advantages that are associated with this kind of external critique. The first
advantage is that it will generally follow what is generally accepted to be good in the society2.
For instance, forcing women to wear veils is a discrimination of human rights. In addition, a
person using this form of critique would argue that such barbaric practices as female genital
mutilation should be stopped despite any cultural implications.
Another advantage of the critique that is based on social norms is that it is likely to
get the support of most people in a society3. If a person endeavours to change certain
behaviours in a particular society, social norms would be a great way to help them achieve
their endeavour. For instance, before, the 19th amendment of the constitution of the United
States, women did not have the right to vote. However, just before the amendment, most
citizens had adopted the idea of equality and therefore supported the idea of women suffrage.
1. Suikkanen, Jussi, and Antti Kauppinen, eds. Methodology and Moral Philosophy.
(New York, USA: Routledge, 2018). 21
2. Kauppinen, Antti. "Reason, recognition, and internal critique." Inquiry 45, no. 4
(2002): 482.
3. Hausman, Daniel, Michael McPherson, and Debra Satz. Economic analysis, moral
philosophy, and public policy. (London, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016), 35.

Therefore, the groups that were advocating for women suffrage before the 19th amendment
got a breakthrough because they were supporting an idea that was already widely accepted by
the society. There are several disadvantages that may be associated with using our own
standards to advocate for a change in the society. These are going to be discussed next.
One of the disadvantages of the approach of using our own standards is that it is
usually too simplistic4. The term simplistic is used to insinuate that the approach does not
consider all the appropriate factors that are appropriate for societal change to occur. The issue
of veils and women would best illustrate this. There are several factors that influence putting
on veils in some countries. A country such as Saudi Arabia is largely religious. The Muslim
religion is widely practiced5. The religion teaches that it is important for women to wear
veils. Therefore, even if it is considered generally wrong to force a woman to wear a veil, it is
important to consider the prevailing factors such as religion in order to effectively achieve the
needed change. In the issue of female genital mutilation, it is important to consider the
retrogressive cultural influences. To effectively stop the practice of female genital mutilation,
it would be important to change the cultural perspective of the people who practice it6. It is
only when all the appropriate prevailing factors are considered that societal change can occur.
As observed in the discussion above, the external critique based on standards is so
weak. To counter the weakness, there is a second form of external critique. This is referred to
as universalist external critique. Unlike the first form of external critique, universal external
critique aims to use reason and reasoning7. This form of critique appeals to norms that are
considered to be valid for a long period of time despite what people actually think about
4. Kauppinen, 494
5. Kant, Immanuel. The moral law: Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals. (New
York, USA: Routledge, 2015), 17
6. Blamey, Jonny, and Jon W. Thompson. Modern Moral Philosophy. (Los Angeles,
USA: Macat Library, 2017), 21
7. Noddings, Nel. Philosophy of education. (New York: Routledge, 2018), 14

them. Most of moral philosophers focus on such norms. To make a change at societal level,
these norms can be applied to the local context8. Therefore, Universalist external critique
aims at using the norms that have long been accepted across societies and customizing it to a
particular society.
There is one main advantage of universalist external critique. One is that any person
or group that would seek to effect some societal change using this form of critique is likely to
be successful in their endeavour9. Let us take an example with a leader who aims at ensuring
that gender discrimination becomes a thing of the past in a certain community. In the modern
days, it has generally been accepted across societies that it is important to ensure gender
equalirty10. Therefore, such a leader would likely get great support from leaders and people
all over the world. The result is achievement of a societal change. The change would be a
society that is more receptive to the idea of gender equality. It is important to note that this
form of critique greatly overcomes the challenged of the ethnocentric external critique
because it involves great reasoning.
There is one main disadvantage associated with universalist critique. One of these is
that it is rare to find a social norm that is widely accepted across the world11. The idea of
pluralism poses a great challenge in when using this form of critique. People across the world
have very varied ideas about what considered moral and what is considered immoral. In light
of this, it is difficult to find a general moral idea or behaviour that is generally accepted
across most societies in the world. There are several reasons why this is the case. One of
these factors is religion. Different people subscribe to different religious ideologies. These
8. Kauppinen, 479
9. Kant, Immanuel. The moral law: Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals. (New
York, USA: Routledge, 2015), 13
10. Blamey, Jonny, and Jon W. Thompson. Modern Moral Philosophy. (Los Angeles,
USA: Macat Library, 2017), 27
11. Nel, 22

ideologies teach about what is moral and what is not. For instance, one religion may consider
it immoral for a man to have more than one wife while this would be considered a norm in
another religion. The second aspect is culture. There are varied cultures across the world.
These cultures have different moral codes and behaviours12. Therefore, it is not easy to come
up with a social norm that is widely accepted across societies.
Internal Critique
There are certain instances when external critique is not effective in achieving societal
change. In such instances, internal critique could prove useful. This is mainly founded on the
Socratic method. Socrates usually desisted from teaching people what they already know13.
Rather, he was concerned in ensuring that people could use the knowledge that they have in a
manner that is rational. Socrates frequently demonstrated that what people took for granted
could lead to some problems later14. This way, he encouraged people to think about the issues
facing them and develop rational ways of addressing them. Through this method, people
would make the appropriate changes that their society needed without Socrates being
involved in the change process.
Internal critique has two main advantages. As seen in the previous section, it is hard
to ensure that external critique is universal and does not reflect the history of traditions of a
certain society. The internal critique ensures that people think about their own issues and
come up with appropriate measures to solve them15. Therefore, the problem of finding a
universal moral code that can be applied to an issue is bypassed. The internal critique is great
because it leads a change that is customized to meet the needs of a particular society. The
12. Angier, Tom PS. Either Kierkegaard/or Nietzsche: Moral philosophy in a new key.
(New York: Routledge, 2016), 17
13. Hutcheson, Francis. A system of moral philosophy: in three books. (London:
Cambridge University Press, 2015), 42
14. Tucker, Robert C. Philosophy and myth in Karl Marx. (New York: Routledge, 2017)
21
15. Kauppinen, 84

second main advantage of internal critique is that it has more chances of leading to practical
effectiveness when compared to external critique. When norms are formed out of an internal
process, there is a high likelihood that they will be observed and followed by the members of
a certain society16. This is a great way to ensure that a society adopts a societal change
without the need for external intervention. It is unlikely that a society will fail to observe a
social norm that has been developed internally17. In addition to this, internal critique could be
viewed as self-correcting. It is self-correcting because the society will always come together
to change any unfavourable norm through adopting a new one.
There is one main disadvantage of the internal critique. Internal critique does not
consider the influence that other societies may have on a community or a society18. Let us
take an example with the process of western civilization. In the modern days, most countries
in the world have adopted western civilization. Therefore, holding on to the traditional morals
and beliefs could lead to failure in societal change endeavours. Most of internal critique
processes do not consider the effects that western civilization has had on the moral beliefs of
people in a society. We live in a world where accessing information is not only easy but very
fast. Smart phones and affordable internet have helped people to access a great deal of
information from the worldwide web. People from different cultures also interact across the
internet through such platforms as the social media19. There has also been a great deal of
migrations that has enabled people of different cultures to interact. In such an environment, it
is quite challenging to use internal critique to bring about societal change. Therefore, there
16. Wray-Bliss, Edward. "Critical Moral Philosophy and Management." Handbook of
Philosophy of Management 21, no. 7 (2018): 7
17. Suikkanen, Jussi, and Antti Kauppinen, eds. Methodology and Moral Philosophy.
(New York, USA: Routledge, 2018), 33
18. Golob, Sacha, and Jens Timmermann, eds. The Cambridge History of Moral
Philosophy. (London, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 23
19. Robinson, Joan. Economic philosophy. (New York: Routledge, 2017), 28

is need to come with another form of critique to address the unique needs of the modern
societies.

References
Angier, Tom PS. Either Kierkegaard/or Nietzsche: Moral philosophy in a new key.
New York: Routledge, 2016.
Blamey, Jonny, and Jon W. Thompson. Modern Moral Philosophy. Los Angeles,
USA: Macat Library, 2017.
Golob, Sacha, and Jens Timmermann, eds. The Cambridge History of Moral
Philosophy. London, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Hausman, Daniel, Michael McPherson, and Debra Satz. Economic analysis, moral
philosophy, and public policy. London, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Hutcheson, Francis. A system of moral philosophy: in three books. London, UK:
Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Kant, Immanuel. The moral law: Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals. New
York: Routledge, 2015.
Kauppinen, Antti. "Reason, recognition, and internal critique." Inquiry 45, no. 4
(2002): 479-498.
Noddings, Nel. Philosophy of education. New York: Routledge, 2018.
Suikkanen, Jussi, and Antti Kauppinen, eds. Methodology and Moral Philosophy.
New York, USA: Routledge, 2018.
Tucker, Robert C. Philosophy and myth in Karl Marx. New York, USA: Routledge,
2017.
Wray-Bliss, Edward. "Critical Moral Philosophy and Management." Handbook of
Philosophy of Management (2018): 1-12.

Robinson, Joan. Economic philosophy. New York: Routledge, 2017.