The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Social Science

by Kincaid, Harold

• ISBN13: 9780195392753
• ISBN10: 0195392752
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-08-06
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The philosophy of the social sciences considers the underlying explanatory powers of the social (or human) sciences, such as history, economics, anthropology, politics, and sociology. The type of questions covered includes the methodological (the nature of observations, laws, theories, and explanations) to the ontological -- whether or not these sciences can explain human nature in a way consistent with common-sense beliefs. ThisHandbookis a major, comprehensive look at the key ideas in the field, is guided by several principles. The first is that the philosophy of social science should be closely connected to, and informed by, developments in the sciences themselves. The second is that the volume should appeal to practicing social scientists as well as philosophers, with the contributors being both drawn from both ranks, and speaking to ongoing controversial issues in the field. Finally, the volume promotes connections across the social sciences, with greater internal discussion and interaction across disciplinary boundaries.

Author Biography

Harold Kincaid is Professor of Philosophy, University of Alabama-Birmingham. He is the co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Economics.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Introduction: Doing Philosophy of Social Science, Harold Kincaid

Part 1. Mechanisms, Explanation and Causation
2. Micro, Macro, and Mechanisms, Petri Ylikoski
3. Mechanisms, Causal Modeling, and the Limitations of Traditional Multiple Regression, Harold Kincaid
4. Process Tracing and Causal Mechanisms, David Waldner
5. Descriptive-causal Generalizations:"Empirical Laws" in the Social Sciences?, Gary Goertz
6. Useful Causal Complexity, David Byrne and Emma Uprichard
7. Partial Explanations in Social Science, Robert Northcott
8. Counterfactuals, Julian Reiss
9. Mechanistic Social Probability: How Individual Choices and Varying Circumstances Produce Stable Social Patterns, Marshall Abrams

Part II. Evidence
10. The Impact of Duhemian Principles on Social Science Testing and Progress, Fred Chernoff
11. Philosophy and the Practice of Bayesian Statistics in the Social Sciences, Andrew Gelman and Cosma Rohilla Shalizi
12. Sciences of Historical Tokens and Theoretical Types: History and the Social Sciences, Aviezer Tucker
13. RCTs, Evidence and Predicting Policy Effectiveness, Nancy Cartwright
14. Bringing Context and Variability Back in to Causal Analysis, Stephen Morgan and Christopher Winship
15. The Potential Value of Computational Models in Social Science Research, Ken Kollman

Part III. Norms, Culture and the Social-Psychological
16. Models of Culture, Mark Risjord
17. Norms, David Henderson
18. The Evolutionary Programme in Social Philosophy, Francesco Guala
19. Cultural Evolution: Integration and Scepticism, Tim Lewens
20. Coordination and the Foundations of Social Intelligence, Don Ross
21. Making Race Out of Nothing: Psychologically Constrained Social Roles, Ron Mallon and Daniel Kelly

Part IV. Sociology of Knowledge
22. A Feminist Empirical and Integrative Approach in Political Science: Breaking-Down the Glass Wall?, Amy G. Mazur
23. Social Constructions of Mental Illness, Allan Horwitz

Part V. Normative Connections
24. Cooperation and Reciprocity: Empirical Evidence and Normative Implications, James Woodward
25. Evaluating Social Policy, Daniel M. Hausman
26. Values and the Science of Well-being: A Recipe for Mixing, Anna Alexandrova