ISBN:
9780444515421
,
9780080466644
Language:
English
Pages:
Online-Ressource (901 p)
Series Statement:
Handbook of the Philosophy of Science
Parallel Title:
Print version Philosophy of Anthropology and Sociology
DDC:
301.01
Keywords:
Electronic books
Abstract:
This volume concerns philosophical issues that arise from the practice of anthropology and sociology. The essays cover a wide range of issues, including traditional questions in the philosophy of social science as well as those specific to these disciplines. Authors attend to the historical development of the current debates and set the stage for future work.〈br〉〈br〉· Comprehensive survey of philosophical issues in anthropology and sociology〈br〉· Historical discussion of important debates〈br〉· Applications to current research in anthropology and sociology
Description / Table of Contents:
Front Cover; Philosophy of Anthropology and Sociology; Copyright Page; General Preface; Table of Contents; Preface; List of Contributors; Part I. Sociology and Quantification; Defining a Discipline: Sociology and its Philosophical Problems, from Its Classics to 1945; Introduction; 1 Statistics, history, and the social question; 2 "Mainstream" american sociology; 3 Weber: Sociology in the language of life; 4 The problems of the a priori; 5 Functionalism and parsons' synthesis; 6 Epilogue: After 1945; Bibliography; Measurement; 1 Measurement in social science
Description / Table of Contents:
2 The meaning of measurement in social science3 The representational theory of measurement in the twentieth century; 4 The trajectory of the concept of quantity; 5 The prospects of measurement in social science; 6 Conclusions; Bibliography; The Intersection of Philosophy and Theory Construction: The Problem of the Origin of Elements in a Theory; 1 The intersection of philosophy and theory construction in the social sciences; 2 Variable concepts multi-variate hypotheses and rationalism; 3 Theoretical definitions, linkages and idealism; 4 Operational definitions, linkages and empiricism
Description / Table of Contents:
5 ConclusionsBibliography; Causal Models in the Social Sciences; 1 Introduction; 2 Regression; 3 Causal inference in systems of equations; 4 Causal inference without domain specific background knowledge: The SGS program; 5 Conclusion; Bibliography; Part II. Individualism and Holism; Functional Explanation and Evolutionary Social Science; 1 Introduction; 2 History and controversies; 3 Clarifying issues; 4 Rational choice, norms, and institutions; 5 Inequality; 6 Selectionist mechanisms; 7 Functional explanations as systems analysis; 8 Concluding morals and open questions; Bibliography
Description / Table of Contents:
Evolutionary Explanations1 Central theoretical concepts - Some terminology from evolutionary biology; 2 The evolutionary explanations of herbert spencer; 3 The eclipse of evolutionary explanations in sociology and anthropology; 4 From evolutionary explanations to evolutionary analogies; 5 The human sociobiology debate; 6 More evolutionary analogies; 7 The return of evolutionary explanations; 8 Human behavioral ecology; 9 Evolutionary psychology; 10 Gene-culture coevolutionary theories; 11 Using evolutionary history to answer "why?" questions
Description / Table of Contents:
12 Unsettled issues in evolutionary theorizing in sociology and anthropologyBibliography; Holism and Supervenience; 1 Introduction; 2 The ontological disagreement; 3 The methodological disagreement; 4 Holism and supervenience; 5 A discussion of the argument from multiple realization; 6 Where should the debate go from here?; Acknowledgements; Bibliography; Levels of the Social; 1 The frame; 2 An example: A farming village; 3 What is the "social world"?; 4 Causal mechanisms and microfoundations; 5 Methodological localism; 6 Conclusions: Levels and layers within the social; Bibliography
Description / Table of Contents:
Rational Choice
Note:
Description based upon print version of record
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