Social Philosophy Of Science For The Social Sciences

Description

This is an international and interdisciplinary volume that provides a new look at the general background of the social sciences from a philosophical perspective and provides directions for methodology. It seeks to overcome the limitations of the traditional treatises of a philosophy of science rooted in the physical sciences, as well as extend the coverage of basic science to intentional and socially normative features of the social sciences. The discussions included in this book are divided into four thematic sections: • Social and cognitive roots for reflexivity upon the research process • Philosophies of explanation in the social sciences • Social normativity in social sciences • Social processes in particular sciences Social Philosophy of Science for the Social Sciences will find an interested audience in students of the philosophy of science and social sciences. It is also relevant for researchers and students in the fields of psychology, sociology, economics, anthropology, education, and political science. Front Matter ....Pages i-viii General Introduction: Social Sciences Between Knowledge and Ideologies – Need for Philosophy (Jaan Valsiner)....Pages 1-9 Front Matter ....Pages 11-11 Social Sciences, What for? On the Manifold Directions of Social Research (David Carré)....Pages 13-29 Vitenskapsteori: What, Why, and How? (Roger Strand)....Pages 31-43 Culture or Biology? If This Sounds Interesting, You Might Be Confused (Sebastian Watzl)....Pages 45-71 Conditional Objectivism: A Strategy for Connecting the Social Sciences and Practical Decision-Making (Rolf Reber, Nicolas J. Bullot)....Pages 73-92 Towards Reflexivity in the Sciences: Anthropological Reflections on Science and Society (Anna Zadrożna)....Pages 93-109 Front Matter ....Pages 111-111 Explanation: Guidance for Social Scientists (Raino Malnes)....Pages 113-124 From Causality to Catalysis in the Social Sciences (Jaan Valsiner)....Pages 125-146 How to Identify and How to Conduct Research that Is Informative and Reproducible (Janis H. Zickfeld, Thomas W. Schubert)....Pages 147-168 Explaining Social Phenomena: Emergence and Levels of Explanation (Henrik Skaug Sætra)....Pages 169-185 Front Matter ....Pages 187-187 Normativity in Psychology and the Social Sciences: Questions of Universality (Svend Brinkmann)....Pages 189-201 The Crisis in Psychological Science and the Need for a Person-Oriented Approach (Lars-Gunnar Lundh)....Pages 203-223 Open Access: A Remedy to the Crisis in Scientific Inquiry? (Lars Wenaas)....Pages 225-240 Front Matter ....Pages 241-241 Fragmented and Critical? The Institutional Infrastructure and Intellectual Ambitions of Norwegian Sociology (Gunnar C. Aakvaag)....Pages 243-267 How Do Economists Think? (Jo Thori Lind)....Pages 269-281 General Conclusion: What Can Social Science Practitioners Learn from Philosophies of Science? (Jaan Valsiner)....Pages 283-295 Back Matter ....Pages 297-305