The design of an epistemology for the management discipline which resolves dilemmas among ethical and other imperatives

We outline an epistemology to resolve dilemmas among conflicting imperatives which arise in management situations involving action programs which are “useful” economically and technically but which, at the same time, must satisfy, among others, aesthetic, ethical, and legal requirements. These “situations” occur in problem domains such as management science, environmental management, conservation management (the science devoted to the protection and preservation of our cultural and historical heritage), urban planning, government administration, and the like. Basically, these actions programs are designed to “improve the state of the real world” and take into account the inevitable conflicts and tradeoffs which inhibit maximization of objectives. In the end, the epistemological framework which is proposed leads to the formulation of a methodology to reconcile the economic, scientific, political, legal, ethical, epistemological, and aesthetic imperatives, in the context of a strategic and pragmatic framework.