Philosophy Department

PROFESSOR: Chris Latiolais
Philosophy Department
Kalamazoo College
Humphrey House #202
Offices Hours:
 1) Mon. 2:00 - 3:45
 2) Tues. 10:30 - 11:30
 3) By Appointment.
 

COURSE GOALS:
 

   This course introduces students to the basic epistemological and normative presuppositions of the social inquiry by surveying both classical and contemporary debates on the logic of the social sciences.  Case studies of classical debates raise the following questions: What distinguishes the social sciences from both the Humanities and the sciences of nature?  In studying human beings, do social researchers look at the micro-level -- for the causes, reasons, motives, meanings, or rules of individual actions -- or, at the macro-level -- for social functions, institutions, structures, practices and fields?  How do micro-individual and macro-social levels of explanation connect up?  Do social scientists explain or interpret human affairs?  Are the social sciences "descriptive," "prescriptive" or both?  Contemporary case studies raise the following questions: How has the critique of Western Logocentrism altered traditional conceptions of individual and social development?  Do the Western social sciences offer universal standards of rationality or merely one -- among many — ethical value systems?  Are radical ethnomethodology and multiculturalism alternatives to, or merely critical realignments of, the Western social sciences.  This course is intended as an historical and critical introduction to contemporary debates about multiculturalism.
    This course is also linked with participation in the following conference:

“Bahktin, Dialogue and Identity”
 
 
 

EVALUATION:

  Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, vocabulary quizzes, midterm examinations and a final paper.
 

Class Participation Seminar presentations and discussion 20%
Midterm examinations 2 @ 15% each 30%
Quizzes 5 @ 5% each 25%
Final Paper 10-15 pages 25%
 
 

POLICIES:

          Open, respectful and critical discussion is the life-blood of this course.  Quizzes
     offer students and professor the opportunity to identify and to clarify central terms/concepts.
     The midterm examinations test comprehension of key philosophical issues, and the final
     paper offers students the opportunity to respond in depth to a single topic.  The final paper
     is due on the day scheduled for the final examination.  3 unexcused absences will result in
     a full grade reduction.
 
 

TEXTS:
 

1. Bohman, James: New Philosophy of the Social Science (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1993).

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2. Martin, Michael & McIntyre, Lee (eds.): Readings in the Philosophy of the SocialSciences (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1993).

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3. [Excerpts] Bernstein, Richard: Beyond Objectivism and Relativism (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1987).

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4. Koegler, Hans Herbert:
1. The Power of Dialogue: Critical Hermeneutics after Gadamer and Foucault (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1996).
2. “Empathy, Dialogical Self, and Reflexive Interpretation: The Symbolic Source of Simulation,” from Empathy and Agency: The Problem of Understanding in the Human Sciences.”

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5. Hermanns, J. M. Hubert & Kempen, J. G. Harry.  Introduction, “The Decentralization of the Self,” & “The Dialogical Self: Tension between Dominance and Exchange,” from The Dialogical Self: Meaning As Movement (Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, 1993).

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6. Morson, Gary Saul & Emerson, Caryl. “Polyphony: Authoring a Hero” from Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of a Prosaics (Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1990).

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7. Morson, Gary Saul.  “Interlude: Bakhtin’s Indeterminism” from  Narrative and Freedom: The Shadows of Time.  (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994).

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8. McAdams, Dan P.
1. “The Problem of Identity” from Power, Intimacy, and the Life Story: Personological Inquiries into Identity.  New York: The Guilford Press, 1988.
2. “What Do We Know When We Know a Person,” Journal of Personality 63:3, September 1995.

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9. Rosenwald, George.  “Conclusion: Reflection on Narrative Self-Understanding,” from Storied Lives: The Cultural Politics of Self-Understanding.

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10. Gregg, Gary.  “Structure, Antistructure, and Nonstructure in Personality” & “A Structural Theory of Self Representation,” from Self-Representation:  Life Narrative Studies in Identity and Ideology, New York, Greenwood Press.

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11. Habermas, Juergen.  “Individuation through Socialization: On George Herbert Mead’s Theory of Subjectivity” from Postmetaphysical Thinking: Philosophical Essays trans. Mark Hohengarten (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1992).

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12. Jones, Jimmy  “Rousseau’s Dialogues.”

Recommended:
 

• Bernstein, Richard.   Beyond Objectivism and Relativism (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1987).

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• Gutmann, Amy.  Multiculturalism and the “Politics of Recognition” (Princeton University Press, Princeton New Jersey 1992).

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• Habermas, Juergen.  The Inclusion of the Other: Studies in Political Theory.  Trans. Ciaran Cronin and Pablo De Greiff.  (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1998).

1.  TRADITIONAL DEBATES CONCERNING THE LOGIC OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE ISSUE OF IDENTITY FORMATION IN PSYCHOLOGY:.
 

TUES:         WEEK ONE
 1.  Introductory Lecture.
 

WED:  FILM: My Beautiful Launderette (DEW 103, 8:00 PM)
 

THUR:
 

 1.    McAdams, Dan P.

  A.  “What Do We Know When We Know a Person,” Journal of Personality 63:3, September 1995.

  B. “The Problem of Identity” from Power, Intimacy, and the Life Story: Personological Inquiries into Identity.  New York: The Guilford Press, 1988.

 2.    Hermanns, J. M. Hubert & Kempen, J. G. Harry.  Introduction, “The Decentralization of the Self,” & “The Dialogical Self: Tension between Dominance and Exchange,” from The Dialogical Self: Meaning As Movement (Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, 1993).
 

TUES:         WEEK TWO
 

 1.  Morson, Gary Saul.  “Interlude: Bakhtin’s Indeterminism” from  Narrative and Freedom: The Shadows of Time.  (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994).

 2.  Morson, Gary Saul & Emerson, Caryl. “Polyphony: Authoring a Hero” from Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of a Prosaics (Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1990).

THURS:
 

 1.  Rosenwald, George.  “Conclusion: Reflection on Narrative Self-Understanding,” from Storied Lives: The Cultural Politics of Self-Understanding.

 2.  Koegler, Hans Herbert:

  A.  Introduction: The Power of Dialogue: Critical Hermeneutics after Gadamer and Foucault (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1996).

  B.  “Empathy, Dialogical Self, and Reflexive Interpretation: The Symbolic Source of Simulation,” from Empathy and Agency: The Problem of Understanding in the Human Sciences.”

 3.  Quiz #1
 

FRIDAY & SATURDAY CONFERENCE: “Bahktin, Dialogue and Identity”
 

TUE:        WEEK THREE
 

 1.  Conference Debriefing.

 2.  Introduction (Bohman).

 3.  Introduction to Part 2 “Explanation, Prediction, and Law,” Introduction to Part 3 “Interpretation and Meaning,” & Introduction to Part 4 “Rationality” (Martin)

2.  THE EXPLANATION/UNDERSTANDING CONTROVERSY IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

THUR:

  1.  “The New Logic of the Social Sciences: Rules, Rationality, and Explanation” (Bohman).

TUE:        WEEK FOUR
 
 

 1.  “Interpretation and Indeterminacy” (Bohman, pp. 102-146).

 2.  “Human Nature and Human History,” R.  G. Collingwood  (pp. 163-173).

 3.  “The Rationale of Actions,” William Dray (pp. 173-181).

 4.  Quiz #2.

 1.  “Interpretation and the Science of Man,” Charles Taylor (pp. 181-213).

TUE:         WEEK FIVE
 

 1.  “Thick Description: “Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,” Clifford Geertz  (Martin, pp. 213-233).

 2.   “Hermeneutics and the Hypothetical-Deductive Method,” Dagfinn Follesdal (Marin, pp. 233-247).

 3.  Quiz. #3.

 1.  “Another Look at the Doctrine of Verstehen,” Jane Roland Martin (pp. 247-259).

 2.  “Taylor on Interpretation and the Sciences of Man,” Michael Martin (pp. 259-281).

 3.  Midterm Examination # 1.

TUES:         WEEK SIX
 

 1.  “Some Problems about Rationality,” Steven Lukes (pp. 285-299).

 2.  “The Status of Rationality Assumptions in Interpretation and in the Explanation of Action,” Dagfinn Follesdal (pp. 299-311).

 1.  “The Principle of Charity and the Problem of Irrationality (Translation and the Problem of Rationality (Martin, 323-343).

 2.  Quiz #4.

TUES:         WEEK SEVEN
 

 1.  “Functional Explanation: In Social Science” Jon Elster (Martin 403-415).

 2.  “Assessing Functional Explanations in the Social Sciences,” Harold Kincaid (pp. 415-429).

 1.  Midterm Examination #2.

TUES:         WEEK EIGHT
 

 1.  “Social Facts” Emile Durkhein (Martin, 433-441).

 2.  “The Macro-Micro Relation” (Bohman).

 1.  “Reduction, Explanation, and Individualism” Harold Kincaid (Martin, 496-515).

 2.  Quiz # 5.

TUES:          WEEK NINE
 

 1.  “Criticism and Explanation” (Bohman).

 2.  “Conclusion: Philosophy and the Social Sciences” (Bohman).

7.  THE CRITIQUE OF POWER AND MULTICULTURAL UNDERSTANDING:
 

THUR:
 

 1.  Chapters One and Two (Koegler).

 1.  Chapters Three and Four (Koegler).

THUR:
 

 1.  Student Evaluations.