The dissertation also draws on the social practice view (SPV) by MacIntyre (1981) to understand FLOSS developers’ project behavior, not as a supplement to but rather as complement to SDT. In particular, the social practice view is used to derive a more holistic picture on FLOSS developers’ project work.
In his influential work ’After Virtue’, Alasdair MacIntyre (1981) presents the social practice view as a new theoretic framework for understanding individual behavior. MacIntyre’s social practice view is part of a new form of virtue ethics and a fundamental critique of utilitarianism (Moore and Beadle 2006). Compared to classic social theories, MacIntyre’s social practice view takes a much broader perspective toward understand individual behavior. For example, while SDT takes a neutral stance on the enacted behavior and focuses on the instrumental and satisfying use of it, MacIntyre’s social practice view puts the particular behavior in the context of how it helps the individual to achieve excellence and unity of life (Weaver 2006). Through this holistic view, the social practice view can even explain why individuals engage in a particular behavior even if it does not result in immediate returns for them (von Krogh et al. 2012). The following paragraphs describe the notion of a social practice, the pivotal element in MacIntyre’s social practice view, as well as the various constructs with which it is interwoven. According to MacIntyre a social practice describes ‘any coherent and complex form of socially
are realized in the course of trying to achieve those standards of excellence which are appropriate to, and, partly, definitive of that form of activity’ (MacIntyre 1981, p. 187).
Furthermore, a social practice is characterized by a wide and positive effect on humankind (von Krogh et al. 2012). Although MacIntyre does not elaborate on the concrete requirements regarding coherency and complexity, he provides several comparisons to understand the meaning of these necessary properties. In particular, MacIntyre (1981) points out that ‘throwing
a football with skill’ should not be considered a social practice, whereas ‘the game of football’
should be (MacIntyre 1981, p. 187). This coarse definition of a social practice has led to several debates about what precisely constitutes a social practice (Moore and Beadle 2006).
A central part in the description of a social practice play internal and external goods. Following MacIntyre (1981), internal goods are only derived through pursuing a social practice and benefit all participants of a social practice. For example, in the case of portrait painting, MacIntyre (1981) describes the creation of at least two internal goods. First, there is the excellence of portrait painting which refers to the excellence of the particular product, i.e. the portrait, and the excellence in the act of painting. The second internal good refers to the good of a certain kind of life (MacIntyre 1981). This type of internal good is derived through individuals’ self- reflection of their performance in the context of their life (Köhne 2012). Contrary to internal goods, external goods are bound to individuals and can also be attained through other means of doing (Weaver 2006). Typically external goods are pecuniary rewards and the earned fame among others for one’s work (Moore and Beadle 2006). In the example of the portrait painter, such external goods could be the money earned or the fame received for the portrait.
Another difference in the two types of goods concerns their provision. Internal goods are derived through pursuing a social practice in line with ‘standards of excellence’. These standards encompass concrete behavioral and technical guidelines on how to perform the social practice. Moreover, the standards of excellence comprise of a generic element, which is the participants’ will to respect the standards of excellence as well as their will to be judged based on how their performance compares to these standards (Köhne 2012, MacIntyre 1981). Continuing the example from above, the standards of excellence for portrait painting would comprise of technical guidelines related to the drawing style such as color mixing and material. In contrast, external goods are contingent on the existence of institutions. In MacIntyre’s conceptualization, institutions are resembled through classic organizations, to which he prescribes the responsibility for acquiring money and which are structured ‘in terms of power
and status, and they distribute money, power and status as rewards’ (MacIntyre 1981, p. 194).
The description of these institutions reflects MacIntyre’s fundamental criticism of capitalist organizations which according to him ‘won’ over social practices (Beadle 2006). The core of MacIntyre’s critique is that money, power, and status have invaded the social practice and the derivation of internal goods (Moore and Beadle 2006, MacIntyre 1994). In the example above, an art company for which the painter works would resemble an institution. MacIntyre’s critique is expressed by the profit orientation of the company which could lead to the directive that employees should spend less attention to the details of deriving the product and focus primarily on the output quantity.
Finally, MacIntyre’s conceptualization of a social practice and the derivation of internal goods are linked with the notion of virtues. According to MacIntyre, virtues are “dispositions which
will not only sustain practices and enable us to achieve the goods internal to practices, but which will also sustain us in the relevant kind of quest for the good” (MacIntyre 1981, p. 218).
Thus, virtues refer not only to the ability to achieve excellence in a particular social practice but also beyond the practice (Beadle 2006). MacIntyre proposes that humans strive to achieve ‘unity of life’ so that they can conceive their lives as a whole (Beadle 2006). In this context the development of virtues help individuals to identify those social practices which are relevant to them. According to Long (2006) honesty and courage are two examples for virtues which are relevant across various social practices.