Microfoundations, Method, and Causation: On the Philosophy of the Social SciencesTransaction Publishers - 272 頁 The convergence of inexactness and intelligibility in social phenomena makes social and historical inquiry fascinating. The social world is not chaotic and social processes are not unrelated strings of events. We can explain social patterns in ways that illuminate social outcomes. At the same time, the social world does not constitute a closed, determined system of variables and outcomes, in the same way that quantum chemistry systemizes the properties of all physical structures. Instead, the social sciences are a tangle of cross-cutting, overlapping sets of theories, hypotheses, causal models, idealized facts, interpretive principles, and bodies of empirical findings that may illuminate but do not reduce. In "Microfoundations, Method, and Causation, "Daniel Little combines a purely philosophical perspective on social science, with the theoretical and empirical practice of working scientists. Part 1 focuses on the theory of popular politics constructed within the context of analytical Marxism. In part 2, Little asks if rational choice theory provides an adequate basis for explaining patterns of social, political, and economic behavior in traditional China. The essays in part 3 reveal the philosophy of social science as understood by philosophers. Here, Little probes issues of objectivity, empiricism, and generalizations, and makes the case that social generalizations are not akin to laws of nature. Little's approach to social science research effectively points out the limits inherent in social theories, as well as questions and answers that may be posed to the social world. In a clear, compelling, and honest fashion, he urges both the social scientist and the philosopher who studies the social sciences, to make the most of empirical methods of research to develop hypotheses about the social world. As such, this is a must read for sociologists, social theorists, and philosophers. |
搜尋書籍內容
第 1 到 5 筆結果,共 41 筆
... concepts ( relations , structures , and constraints ) in characterizing the circumstances of the individual ( thus contradicting the narrow strictures of methodological individualism ) ; but it is not legitimate to assert a causal or ...
... concepts , and as a thesis about social explanation . The ontologi- cal thesis holds that all social entities must be reducible to logical com- pounds of individuals . The thesis about meaning asserts that all social concepts must be ...
... concept is used to explain apparent failures to achieve rational collective action , while the latter explains how conflicts between private and group interest are sur- mounted . Ideology sometimes leads individuals to act in ways that ...
On the Philosophy of the Social Sciences Daniel Little. Consider first the concept of ideology . How does the theory of ide- ology contribute to a Marxist theory of consciousness and political motivation ? A clue may be found in the ...
... concept ; an ideology functions as an instrument of class conflict , permitting a domi- nant class to manipulate the political behavior of subordinate classes . The concept of class consciousness functions somewhat differently in Marx's ...
內容
xiii | |
25 | |
Marxism and Popular Politics | 49 |
Explanation in Area Studies | 75 |
RationalChoice Theory and Asian Studies | 77 |
Collective Action and the Traditional Village | 99 |
Identity Politics Microfoundations for Asian Studies | 121 |
The Brenner Debate | 129 |
Objectivity Generalization and Causation | 167 |
Evidence and Objectivity in the Social Sciences | 169 |
Causal Explanation in the Social Sciences | 193 |
An Experiment in Causal Reasoning | 211 |
On the Scope and Limits of Generalization in the Social Sciences | 233 |
References | 253 |
Index | 265 |
The HighLevel Equilibrium Trap | 147 |