Philosophy of Social Science: The Philosophical Foundations of Social Thought

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 6
Preface to the Second Edition......Page 10
Philosophy and the Social Sciences......Page 12
A Philosophical Toolkit......Page 14
The Book and Its Arguments......Page 19
How to Read the Book......Page 22
Empiricism and the Theory of Knowledge......Page 24
Positivism and Sociology......Page 33
Further Reading......Page 38
Introduction: Two Ways to Criticize Positivism......Page 39
Some Problems of Empiricism......Page 40
Further Problems of Positivism......Page 56
Further Reading......Page 60
Marxism and Science......Page 61
Weber, Merton and the Sociology of Science......Page 64
Historical Epistemology and Structural Marxism......Page 66
Revolutions and Relativism: From Kuhn to the 'Strong Programme'......Page 69
Gender and Science: The Feminist Vision......Page 74
The Reflexive Turn: 'Constructing' Nature and Society......Page 78
Conclusion......Page 84
Post-script......Page 85
5 Interpretive Approaches 1: Instrumental Rationality......Page 87
Weber's Discussion of the Objects of the Social Sciences......Page 88
Weber's Methodology: Understanding and Ideal Types......Page 91
Weber on Objectivity and Value Freedom......Page 93
Phenomenology: A Philosophical Foundation for Instrumental Rationality......Page 94
Instrumental Variations I: Rational Choice Theory......Page 97
Instrumental Variations II: Pragmatism and Symbolic Interactionism......Page 98
Reasons and Causes......Page 100
Individualism, Holism and Functional Explanation......Page 101
Conclusion......Page 102
Further Reading......Page 103
Post-script......Page 104
Introduction......Page 105
Peter Winch: Philosophy and Social Science......Page 106
Language, Games and Rules......Page 107
Understanding Other Societies......Page 109
What Can We Do with Winch?......Page 112
Alisdair MacIntyre: Narratives and Communities......Page 113
Hermeneutics: Hans-Georg Gadamar......Page 115
Conclusion......Page 117
Post-script......Page 118
Introduction: Hegel, Marx and the Dialectic......Page 119
The Dialectic of the Enlightenment......Page 122
Ideology......Page 123
Habermas: The Possibility of an Emancipatory Science......Page 125
Critical Theory and the Linguistic Turn......Page 127
Conclusion......Page 129
Post-script......Page 130
Introduction......Page 131
Realism and Natural Science......Page 133
Experiments, Laws and Mechanisms......Page 135
Reality as Stratified......Page 136
Stratification, Emergence and Reduction......Page 137
Reality as Differentiated: Closed and Open Systems......Page 140
Realism and Social Science......Page 142
Critical Realism and Human Emancipation......Page 147
Post-script......Page 151
Introduction: Objectivity and Cultural Diversity......Page 153
Feminist Politics and Social Knowledge......Page 156
Feminism and Epistemology......Page 158
Debating the Feminist Standpoint......Page 165
Post-modern Feminism......Page 171
Post-script......Page 172
Introduction......Page 174
Post-structuralism: The Move to the Signifier......Page 177
Foucault: The Construction of the Subject......Page 178
Derrida and Deconstruction......Page 180
Post-modernism: Losing Philosophy......Page 182
The Politics of Post-structuralism and Post-modernism......Page 183
What Do We Do with the Posts?......Page 184
Post-script......Page 186
11 Conclusion: In Defence of Philosophy......Page 188
12 Commentary on Recent Developments......Page 194
Peter Winch and Hermeneutics......Page 195
Meaning, Action and Explanation......Page 196
Understanding Other Cultures and Criticizing One's Own......Page 200
'Limiting notions', Human Nature and Social Science Naturalism......Page 203
Post-Marxism and Post-Structuralism......Page 206
Critical Realism and Social Science......Page 213
Appendix I: Personal Conclusions......Page 229
Appendix II: Obituary for Professor Ian Craib (1945–2002)......Page 239
Glossary......Page 242
Bibliography......Page 250
Index......Page 266