Philosophy of Social Science

Review of Dean Mathiowetz, "Appeals to Interest: Language and the Shaping of Political Agency" by Jonathan Havercroft

by Dean Mathiowetz

Published in Perspectives on Politics, June 2012

A Formal Explanation of Formal Explanation

by Dwight Read

Structure and Dynamics: eJournal of Anthropological and Related Sciences: Vol. 3: No. 2, Article 4. http://repositories.cdlib.org/imbs/socdyn/sdeas/vol3/iss2/art4

Two kinds of formal models need to be distinguished: data models derived from patterned observations and theory models... more Two kinds of formal models need to be distinguished: data models derived from patterned observations and theory models derived from theories about processes that produce the patterned observations. These correspond to the difference between the phenomenal domain of observations and the ideational domain of theories. Explanation can be characterized by isomorphism between data models and theory models. The physical, biological and cultural domains differ by what constitute the relevant structuring processes for each of these domains. The cultural domain associated with human societies is far more complex than the other two because the domain of observation must include cultural idea systems. One of the primary roles of formal models for cultural idea systems is to determine the necessary consequences (through mathematical reasoning) of processes hypothesized to provide their internal coherency.

Michael Polanyi’s theory of knowledge, Habermas and interdisciplinary research

by Nigel Newton

Review and consideration of Michael Polanyi's theory of knowledge. His relevance to contemporary research in the... more Review and consideration of Michael Polanyi's theory of knowledge. His relevance to contemporary research in the social sciences is discussed. The article also re-evaluates the importance of fiduciary commitment.

How to Map and Explain the Diversity of Research Programs in the Field of Science Studies

by Andrey Kozhanov

report for Society of Social Studies of Science Annual Meeting, 2011.
This project is in progress...

On Erich Fromm: why he left the Frankfurt school

by Caroline Kamau

Kamau, C. (2012).

Chapter synopsis: 'On Erich Fromm: Why he left the Frankfurt School':

-Biography: Erich Fromm
-Erich... more Chapter synopsis: 'On Erich Fromm: Why he left the Frankfurt School':

-Biography: Erich Fromm
-Erich Fromm was very critical of Freudian psychoanalysis. The Frankfurt School disapproved of that.
-Tension arose between Fromm and Horkheimer/Adorno/Marcuse and other pro-Freudian contemporaries
-Erich Fromm had reservations about the Frankfurt School's desire to merge psychoanalysis with Marxist theory
-Controversy arose over the Frankfurt School's decision not to publish a manuscript that Fromm wrote, with Weiss. This was a report of their landmark authoritarian personality study of 1931. The topic and methodology shaped the Frankfurt School's later research into authoritarianism (e.g. Adorno et al.'s famous studies).

This chapter also discusses Erich Fromm's work post-Frankfurt School:
--Fromm on social neurosis
--Fromm on thoughts as a form of self-presentation or impression management
--Fromm's theoretical focus on self identity, rather than instincts
--Fromm's theory about personality traits
--Fromm on empiricism and psychology versus psychoanalysis

Rationality and Identity: A critique of Alessandro Pizzorno

by Fernando Aguiar

Co-authored with Andrés de Francisco; published in the European Journal of Sociology, 2002

In this article we analyze Pizzorno’s attempt to develop a theory of identity capable of explaining individuals’... more In this article we analyze Pizzorno’s attempt to develop a theory of identity capable of explaining individuals’ participation in collective action, and his belief that this theory can, at the same time, be presented as an alternative to rational choice theory. In our opinion he has failed in this attempt. We have tried to show that his theory has only the flimsiest of foundations (the notion that individuals are ‘strings of selves’ constitutes little more than a happy turn of phrase) and raises more questions than it resolves.

El contextualismo radical de Jean-Claude Passeron

by Fernando Aguiar

Published in "Revista Española de Sociología" 14 (2010).

Saving identity from postmodernism? The normalization of constructivism in International Relations

by Nik Hynek

co-authored with Andrea Teti, published in "Contemporary Political Theory", Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 171-199. ISSN 1470-8914

From the ground to the background. Form of life as "the given" in Wittgenstein

by Anna Boncompagni

Forthcoming in L&PS – Logic and Philosophy of Science, Vol. IX, No. 1, 2011

“What has to be accepted, the given, is – so one could say – forms of life”. Starting from this remark by... more “What has to be accepted, the given, is – so one could say – forms of life”. Starting from this remark by Wittgenstein, we can sketch an idea of knowledge that overcomes the dichotomy between subject and object, posing forms of life at the basis of the cognitive look and implying a starting point which is constitutively articulated. The price to pay is the apparent vagueness of such conception. Yet, vagueness is not a weak point, rather a strong point of this change of perspective, as it underlines a crucial shift of mean-ing: the given is not to be conceived as a ground, but as a background of knowledge. Interesting consequences can be drawn for social and cognitive sciences.

Rethinking'means-as-end': Methodological potentials of socially engaged research

by Milos Milenkovic

Oppositional Culture and Educational Opportunity

by Christopher Lewis

The most common lay explanation for the racial gap in educational achievement in the U.S. is the ‘oppositional culture... more The most common lay explanation for the racial gap in educational achievement in the U.S. is the ‘oppositional culture hypothesis’, which holds that Black students tend to
undervalue education and stigmatize their high-achieving peers, accusing them of ‘acting White’. Many believe that, insofar as this hypothesis is true, Black underachievement is unproblematic from the perspective of justice, because Black
students are simply not taking the fair opportunities presented to them. This paper offers a systematic critique of the normative aspects of this view and some conceptual clarifications regarding the nature of opportunity.

CIBERESPACIO, MEMORIA Y TRADICION. LAS ARTES DE CONSTRUIR EL TIEMPO EN LA ALTA MODERNIDAD.

by L. Nicolás Guigou

Ciberespacio, memoria y tradición. ABSTRACT We intend to point out some of the characteristics of the cyberspace... more Ciberespacio, memoria y tradición. ABSTRACT We intend to point out some of the characteristics of the cyberspace dimensions within contemporaneity. These dimensions cannot obliterate their necessary relation with the imaginary, memories and traditions that deepen other temporalities, combining themselves with the finitude of the time marked by the technification and virtualization of the world.

¿Cómo hacer una cartografía del tiempo y la memoria?

by L. Nicolás Guigou

¿Cómo hacer una cartografía del tiempo y la memoria?
En: Anuario de Antropología Social y Cultural. Montevideo:... more ¿Cómo hacer una cartografía del tiempo y la memoria?
En: Anuario de Antropología Social y Cultural. Montevideo: NORDAN-DAS, 2006.

"El cronista que narra los acontecimientos sin distinguir entre los
grandes y los pequeños, da cuenta de una verdad: que nada de
lo que una vez haya acontecido ha de darse por perdido para la
historia. Por cierto, que sólo para la humanidad redimida se ha
hecho su pasado citable en cada uno de sus momentos.
Cada uno de los instantes vividos se convierte en una citación à l ordre du jour, pero precisamente del día final".


Walter Benjamin, Tesis de filosofía de la historia

Des concepts et des faits La double-contradiction des sciences sociales

by Bastien Bosa

Published in Labyrinthe, 2011, No 37

Cet article prétend explorer une double-tension fondamentale pour définir l’espace logique dans lequel se déploient... more Cet article prétend explorer une double-tension fondamentale pour définir l’espace logique dans lequel se déploient les sciences sociales, en tant que « sciences empiriques de l’interprétation ». D’un côté, les sciences sociales sont des sciences des « faits », (puisqu’elles impliquent la constitution de données empiriques et qu’elles « visent » la réalité des processus sociaux), mais qui ne croient pas à l’existence de ces derniers. Pour ne pas retomber dans des formes d’empirisme pré-critique, elles reconnaissent en effet qu’il leur est impossible d’accéder au « réel » et que les faits n’existent pas indépendamment de celui qui les constate. D’un autre côté, ce sont des sciences analytiques (au sens où l’interprétation des matériaux ne peut se faire sans un travail théorique), mais qui ne croient pas aux « concepts » au sens fort du terme. Elles reconnaissent en effet leur incapacité à formaliser, à « démontrer », ou à formuler des lois de validité générale.

Summary :
Concepts and facts: the double double-bind of social sciences
This article explores an essential double-tension that characterizes the logical space, in which evolve the social sciences, as “empirical sciences of interpretation”. On the one hand, social sciences are sciences of “facts” (since they imply the constitution of empirical data and they pretend to account for the reality of social processes), but sciences which, at the same time, do not believe in the existence of “facts”. In order to avoid forms of pre-critical empiricism, they claim that it is impossible for them to reach “reality” as such and that the “facts” do not exist independently of the person investigating them. On the other hand, they are analytical sciences (since the interpretation of the empirical materials cannot be done without a theoretical work), but which do not believe in “concepts” (as they are unable to “formalize” or to move to a general or purely abstract level).

Epistemology

by Inanna Hamati-Ataya

Forthcoming, The Encyclopedia of Political Thought, edited by Michael T. Gibbons et al., Wiley-Blackwell.

Carl Menger's theory of invisible-hand explanations

by Markus Haller

WICKSTEED, ROBBINS AND THE EMERGENCE OF MAINSTREAM ECONOMIC METHODOLOGY

by Stavros Drakopoulos

Published in Review of Political Economy, vol.23, 2011

Phillip Wicksteed's ideas played an important role in the history of economic methodology, first, because his views... more Phillip Wicksteed's ideas played an important role in the history of economic methodology, first, because his views represent the starting point of the deliberate attempt to expel hedonism from marginalist economic analysis, and secondly because his ideas influenced his prominent disciple Lionel Robbins. The current mainstream view of an allegedly value-free economic science can be traced to Robbins. The paper examines Wicksteed's conception of economic science and the role of hedonism. His views on the nature and the role of economic man, and his analysis of egoism and of altruistic behaviour are also discussed. The paper assesses Wicksteed's influence, via Robbins, on the formation of mainstream methodological views.

A Review of Kuhnian and Lakatosian “Explanations” in Economics.

by Stavros Drakopoulos

published in History of Economic Ideas, vol. 13, 2005
Co-author: A. D. Karayiannis

In the last few decades the influence on economics of the ideas of T. Kuhn and I. Lakatos was considerable. The... more In the last few decades the influence on economics of the ideas of T. Kuhn and I. Lakatos was considerable. The increasing use of terms like “paradigms” and “scientific research programmes” in almost every field of economics, is indicative of the influence of these two philosophers. Furthermore, the introduction of the ideas of Kuhn and Lakatos in economics gave the stimulus for work on the nature of growth of economic knowledge. The paper starts by presenting the main influence of T. Kuhn on theories concerned with the evolution of economic theory. It continues with a review of the main criticisms regarding the appropriateness and applicability of Kuhnian ideas for economics. The same approach is followed in the case of I. Lakatos. After a classification and discussion of the main findings, the paper attempts to offer an interpretation of the general impact of these two philosophers science on ideas relating to the development of economic theories.

Origins and development of the trend toward value-free economics

by Stavros Drakopoulos

Published in Journal of the History of Economic Thought, vol19, 1997

The vast majority of pre-Classical and of many Classical economists thought that it was natural to incorporate value... more The vast majority of pre-Classical and of many Classical economists thought that it was natural to incorporate value judgments and norms in their economic reasoning. However, there was a gradual dominance of the idea of a neutral or value-free economic science which gained momentum with the second Marginalist generation. More specifically, clear signs of this tendency can be found in the works of Sidgwick, Pareto and Fisher. The paper examines the process of this change and provides possible justifications. In particular, the work discusses this trend with reference to the growing influence of classical physics, and positivist philosophies of science. Consequently, the paper shows that there was a gradual broadening of the meaning of the term “value judgments” to include mental states and motivations. These developments are essential in the understanding of the formation of the standard economic theory and especially of microeconomic theory.

International Relations' Scientific Imagination: A Pluralist's Manifesto

by David McCourt