COURSE SYLLABI :

PHILOSOPHY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

LECTURE NOTES:

PROFESSOR: Chris Latiolais, Chair
Philosophy Department
Kalamazoo College
Humphrey House #201
Telephone # 337-7076
Offices Hours

  • Mon. 8:00 - 10:00.
  • Tues. 10:30- 11:30.
  • By Appointment.

COURSE GOALS:

By surveying classical and contemporary debates on the logic of the social sciences, this course introduces students to the philosophical examination of basic epistemological and normative presuppositions that underwrite contemporary empirical social scientific inquiry. 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. By addressing such questions, the course offers an historical and critical introduction to contemporary debates about multiculturalism.

EVALUATION:

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

TYPE OF EVALUATION FREQUENCY TOTAL
Class Participation: Seminar presentations, classroom discussion and email correspondence 10%
Quizzes 10 @ 6% = 60%
Midterm Assignments (10-15 pages) 2 @ 15% = 30%

 

 

 

 

POLICIES:

Students are expected to follow the reading schedule and come to class prepared to actively discuss the texts they have read. More specifically, students must bring their texts to class with marginal notes and highlighted passages of particular importance. Quizzes offer students the opportunity to identify and clarify central terms and concepts. The midterm assignments allow students to write an essays on key philosophical issues and arguments, 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. Late papers will be marked down a half grade for the first day and a full grade for the second day. All work must be turned in at the end of term, unless alternative assignments have been given by the instructor.

TEXTS:

  • Martin, Michael & McIntyre, Lee (eds.): Readings in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1993).
  • Bohman, James: New Philosophy of the Social Science (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1993). [Coursepack.com]
  • A few selected articles from the following list:
    • 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).
    • Hermanns, J. M. Hubert & Kempen, The Dialogical Self: Meaning As Movement (Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, 1993).
      • Introduction.
      • “The Decentralization of the Self"
      • “The Dialogical Self: Tension between Dominance and Exchange,”
    • Koegler, Hans Herbert
      • “Empathy, Dialogical Self, and Reflexive Interpretation: The Symbolic Source of Simulation,” from Empathy and Agency: The Problem of Understanding in the Human Sciences.”
      • The Power of Dialogue: Critical Hermeneutics after Gadamer and Foucault (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1996).
    • McAdams, Dan P.
      • “The Problem of Identity” from Power, Intimacy, and the Life Story: Personological Inquiries into Identity. New York: The Guilford Press, 1988.
      • “What Do We Know When We Know a Person,” Journal of Personality 63:3, September 1995.
    • Morson, Gary Saul & Emerson, Caryl. “Polyphony: Authoring a Hero” from Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of a Prosaics (Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1990).
    • Morson, Gary Saul. “Interlude: Bakhtin’s Indeterminism” from Narrative and Freedom: The Shadows of Time. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994).
    • Rosenwald, George. “Conclusion: Reflection on Narrative Self-Understanding,” from Storied Lives: The Cultural Politics of Self-Understanding.

 

READING SCHEDULE

INTRODUCTION: TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

TUESDAY (WEEK ONE):

  • Introductory Lecture: The philosophy of the Social Sciences.
  • Course Mechanics.

THURSDAY

  • Introduction to Part 1: “Explanation, Prediction, and Laws”
  • Introduction to Part 2 “Explanation, Prediction, and Law”
  • Introduction to Part 3 “Interpretation and Meaning”
  • Introduction to Part 4 “Rationality”

THE EXPLANATION/UNDERSTANDING CONTROVERSY IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES: THE VERSTEHEN APPROACH:

TUESDAY. (WEEK TWO)

  • “Human Nature and Human History,” R. G. Collingwood (pp. 163-173).
  • “The Rationale of Actions,” William Dray (pp. 173-181).

THURSDAY

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

TUESDAY: (WEEK THREE)

  • “Thick Description: “Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,” Clifford Geertz (Martin, pp. 213-233).
  • “Hermeneutics and the Hypothetical-Deductive Method,” Dagfinn Follesdal (Marin, pp. 233-247).
  • Quiz. #2.

THURSDAY

  • “Another Look at the Doctrine of Verstehen,” Jane Roland Martin (pp. 247-259).
  • “Taylor on Interpretation and the Sciences of Man,” Michael Martin (pp. 259-281).

TUESDAY (WEEK FOUR)

  • Introduction (Bohman)
  • "The Old Logic of Social Science: Action, Reasons, and Causes"
  • Quiz #3

THURSDAY

  • "The New Logic of the Social Sciences: Rules, Rationality, and Explanation” (Bohman)
  • “Interpretation and Indeterminacy” (Bohman, pp. 102-146).
  • Midterm Assignment # 1

 

RATIONALITY AND INTEPRETATION:

TUESDAY: (WEEK FIVE)

  • “Some Problems about Rationality,” Steven Lukes (pp. 285-299).
  • “The Status of Rationality Assumptions in Interpretation and in the Explanation of Action,” Dagfinn Follesdal (pp. 299-311).

THURSDAY

  • “The Principle of Charity and the Problem of Irrationality" (Translation and the Problem of Rationality (Martin, 323-343)
  • Quiz #4.

TUESDAY: (WEEK SIX):

FUNCTIONAL EXPLANATIONS:

THURSDAY

  • “Functional Explanation: In Social Science” Jon Elster (Martin 403-415).
  • “Assessing Functional Explanations in the Social Sciences,” Harold Kincaid (pp. 415-429).

REDUCTIONISM, INDIVIDUALISM AND HOLISM:

TUESDAY: (WEEK SEVEN)

  • “Social Facts” Emile Durkhein (Martin, 433-441).
  • “The Macro-Micro Relation” (Bohman).

THURSDAY:

  • “Reduction, Explanation, and Individualism” Harold Kincaid (Martin, 496-515).
  • Quiz # 5.

TUESDAY: (WEEK EIGHT)

  • “Criticism and Explanation” (Bohman).
  • “Conclusion: Philosophy and the Social Sciences” (Bohman).
  • Quiz #6
  • Midterm Examination #2.

A TEST CASE FOR THE LOGIC OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES: CONTEMPORARY WORK IN NARRATIVE PSYCHOLOGY:

 

THURSDAY:

  • Selected Articles

TUESDAY: (WEEK NINE)

  • Selected Articles

THURSDAY:

  • Selected Articles

TUESDAY: (WEEK TEN)

  • Selected Articles

THURSDAY:

  • -Student Evaluations.

FINALS WEEK