The SAGE Handbook of the Philosophy of Social Sciences
eBook - PDF

The SAGE Handbook of the Philosophy of Social Sciences

  1. 772 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The SAGE Handbook of the Philosophy of Social Sciences

About this book

- what is the relationship between the social sciences and the natural sciences?

- where do today?s dominant approaches to doing social science come from?

- what are the main fissures and debates in contemporary social scientific thought?

- how are we to make sense of seemingly contrasting approaches to how social scientists find out about the world and justify their claims to have knowledge of it?

In this exciting handbook, Ian Jarvie and JesĂșs Zamora-Bonilla have put together a wide-ranging and authoritative overview of the main philosophical currents and traditions at work in the social sciences today.

Starting with the history of social scientific thought, this handbook sets out to explore that core fundamentals of social science practice, from issues of ontology and epistemology to issues of practical method. Along the way it investigates such notions as paradigm, empiricism, postmodernism, naturalism, language, agency, power, culture, and causality.

Bringing together in one volume leading authorities in the field from around the world, this book will be a must-have for any serious scholar or student of the social sciences.

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Yes, you can access The SAGE Handbook of the Philosophy of Social Sciences by Ian C Jarvie, Jesus Zamora-Bonilla, Ian C Jarvie,Jesus Zamora-Bonilla,Author in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Social Science Research & Methodology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. COVER
  2. Contents
  3. List of Contributors
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. Advisory Board
  6. Introduction: Philosophical Problems of the Social Sciences: Paradigms, Methodology and Ontology
  7. PART 1: The Development of the Philosophy of Social Science
  8. 1. The Philosophy of Social Science from Mandeville to Mannheim
  9. 2. Continental Philosophies of the Social Sciences
  10. 3. The Philosophy of Social Science in the Twentieth Century:Analytic Traditions: Reflections on the RationalitÀtstreit
  11. PART 2: Central Issues in Social Ontology
  12. 4. Naturalism: The Place of Society in Nature
  13. 5. Language and Society
  14. 6. Social Minds
  15. 7. Rational Agency
  16. 8. Individualism, Collective Agency and The “Micro–Macro Relation”
  17. 9. Rules, Norms and Commitments
  18. 10. Systems Theory
  19. 11. The Concept of Culture as an Ontological Paradox
  20. 12. Power and Social Class in the Twenty-first Century
  21. 13. Causality, Causal Models, and Social Mechanisms
  22. PART 3: A Philosopher’s Guide to Social Science Paradigms
  23. 14. Rational Choice Theory
  24. 15. Game Theory
  25. 16. Social Networks
  26. 17.Normative Criteria of Social Choice
  27. 18. Analytical Sociology
  28. 19. Institutions
  29. 20. Evolutionary Approaches
  30. 21. Functionalism and Structuralism
  31. 22. Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, and Ethnomethodology
  32. 23. Pragmatism and Symbolic Interactionism
  33. 24. Social Constructionism, Postmodernism and Deconstructionism
  34. 25. Theories of Culture, Cognition, and Action
  35. 26. Communicative Action and Critical Theory
  36. PART 4: Methodology: Assessingand Using Social Theories
  37. 27. Facts, Values, and Objectivity
  38. 28. Idealised Representations, Inferential Devices and Cross-Disciplinary Tools: Theoretical Models in Social Sciences
  39. 29. Empirical Evidence:Its Nature and Sources
  40. 30. Experiments
  41. 31. Mathematics and Statistics in the Social Sciences
  42. 32. Artificial Worlds and Agent-Based Simulation
  43. 33. Explanation in the Social Sciences
  44. 34. Prediction
  45. 35. Science and Technology Studies and Social Epistemology:The Struggle for Normativity in Social Theories of Knowledge
  46. 36. Expert Judgement
  47. 37. Social Technology
  48. Epilogue: Rationality in the Social Sciences: Bridging the Gap
  49. Index