He Pulls a Knife, I Pull a Gun: Philosophy’s Potency in Organisation Research

Natural sciences` methodologies equate theorising with the identification of causal relationships and predictive claims and have shaped how organisation researchers conceptualise explanation. This article examines the limitations of this approach. Drawing on conjecture from philosophy, it argues that causal and unificationist explanation models are ill-suited to contexts wherein meaning, intention and considered action are consequential. It further contends that critical scholarship, despite its scepticism about positivism, remains committed to theory production and thus reproduces similar shortcomings. In response, a complementary purposive alternative is developed, grounded in the idea that human behaviour is often best understood through the articulation of reasons rather than cause identification. This adjunctive perspective repositions explanation as an interpretive activity concerned with constructing how organisational actors make sense of and behave within their environment(s). The article contributes to management philosophy through delineating the content-scope of theory-based explanation and outlining a framework that reconnects organisation studies with its philosophical foundations.