Reflective distanciation through a metamethodological perspective

Since each of the modern sciences -- physical, biological, and human -- broke their traditional ties with philosophy they have reflected less upon foundational problems of their methodologies. The essay constitutes an invitation to reflect upon <I>Q</I>-analysis in an historical perspective, raising the question of the meaning of mathematization in the human sciences. Functional description implies a mechanical framework for the human world. By enlarging the descriptive possibilities to the mapping and relation, <I>Q</I>-analysis raises the question of allowing and forbidding, but not requiring, geometries. It also opens up difficult questions of language in the human sciences, the constrained nature of current methodologies, the effects of aggregation, and a concern for proper definitions -- including the notion of <I>structure</I> itself.