Readings in the philosophy of social science Pdf

The following reading list for books about the philosophy of social science is offered to those who are interested in the various ways philosophers, sociologists, political scientists, and other academics have thought about the practice of their subject. My aim is to offer concise and well-informed summaries of important works in this area, works I have found helpful in my own scholarly thinking. Since I am a philosopher by trade, this list is largely informed by philosophers’ contributions. However, I have tried to be balanced and include selections from other disciplines as well.

The philosophy of social science is a diverse field, including various approaches to the subject matter and methodologies of the social sciences, as well as philosophical accounts of the specific aims and purposes of such sciences. This article offers an introduction to the three main perspectives on social scientific epistemology—(1) Science as practical problem solving, (2) Science as investigative creation, and (3) Science as socially embedded, which scholars sometimes call “critical” or “strong socio-constructionism”—and identifies some central themes in the contemporary debate between these competing perspectives in knowledge-philosophy about sociology and related disciplines.

I consider the term “social science” to be a misnomer. In my mind, the social sciences are not mere sciences of society but also its philosophy. And accordingly, I conceive of social scientific inquiry as a philosophical endeavor. This philosophical character of social scientific inquiry is inseparable from its methodological universalism—the methods and concepts it employs should be applicable to any form of human behavior across time and space. (101-102)