Microfoundations, Method, and Causation: On the Philosophy of the Social SciencesTransaction Publishers - 272 strán (strany) 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. |
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... empirical inquiry as the ulti- mate criterion of evaluation of social hypotheses and theories . The microfoundations approach is particularly important for the philoso- phy of social science . According to this perspective , vii.
... hypothesis with empirical content in this field ? Or , as some would have it , does the Asianist need to be a particularist , identifying culturally specific factors as the ex- planatory fundament in Chinese history ? I argue that the ...
... hypotheses can and should be tested and empirically evalu- ated ( weak empiricism ) ( 2 , 7 , 9 ) ; • social science is potentially " objective " ( 2 , 8 , 9 , 12 ) ; • Rational choice theory provides a powerful basis for social ...
... hypothesis about explanatory social regularities at all . A putative explanation couched at the level of high - level social factors whose underlying individual - level mechanisms are entirely unknown is no explanation at all . The ...
... Hypothesis " ( 1980 ) and The Language of Thought ( 1979 ) . 20. " On this account , what distinguishes Marxist from non - Marxist social science is not the postulate of methodological individualism , but the level of aggregation ...
Obsah
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 |