A realist philosophy of social science : explanation and understanding / Peter T. Manicas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Manicas, Peter T., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social sciences--Philosophy.

Social sciences.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 225 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This introduction to the philosophy of social science provides an original conception of the task and nature of social inquiry. Peter Manicas discusses the role of causality seen in the physical sciences and offers a reassessment of the problem of explanation from a realist perspective. He argues that the fundamental goal of theory in both the natural and social sciences is not, contrary to widespread opinion, prediction and control, or the explanation of events (including behaviour). Instead, theory aims to provide an understanding of the processes which, together, produce the contingent outcomes of experience. Offering a host of concrete illustrations and examples of critical ideas and issues, this accessible book will be of interest to students of the philosophy of social science, and social scientists from a range of disciplines.

Contents:

Explanation and understanding

Theory, experiment and the metaphysics of Laplace

Explanation and understanding in the social sciences

Agents and generative social mechanisms

Social science and history

Markets as social mechanisms

Appendix A: The limits of multiple regression

Appendix B: Comparison, Mill's methods and narrative

Appendix C: Rational choice theory and historical sociology

Appendix D: The neo-classical model.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 200-216) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-16815-5

0-511-64847-2

0-511-21942-3

0-511-56903-3

0-511-60703-2

0-511-22010-3

OCLC:

171139316

Publisher Number:

9780521861403 (hbk.)

9780521378582 (pbk.)