The limits of instrumental rationality in social explanation

The goal of social explanation is to understand human action, both individu al and collective. To do so successfully we must explain action on three di stinct (but intertwined) levels: the actors' intentions, the meaning that a ctors and interpreters ascribe to action, and the structural ideals that go vern action. Each level of explanation has certain types of rationality ass ociated with it. Only on the level of intentionality does instrumental rati onality assume a prime importance, yet even there it must compete with norm ative and expressive accounts of action.