GV958: Theory and Explanation in Political Science, Part I: Philosophy of Science (Han Dorussen)

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "GV958: Theory and Explanation in Political Science, Part I: Philosophy of Science (Han Dorussen)"

Transcription

1 GV958: Theory and Explanation in Political Science, Part I: Philosophy of Science (Han Dorussen) Week 3: The Science of Politics 1. Introduction 2. Philosophy of Science 3. (Political) Science 4. Theory 1. Introduction Han Dorussen (5B.312; ext: 2510; hdorus) will be teaching five weeks of GV958. I have my office hours from 2 4 pm on Tuesdays, but you are strongly advised to make an appointment via Claire Chell (5B.318; ext: 2741; clchell). Literature: You may have noticed that the reading list in Part I is limited (although not necessarily the amount of pages). The starring of required readings is less obvious though. If you haven t done so already, I suggest that you buy John Ziman: Real Science and use it as general background reading. I will also provide you with copies of the essential (and hard to get readings), like Wagner and Popper (today) and Braybrooke (later). I will try to get the other texts on Short Loan as quickly as possible. The essays of Part I: 1. Using a.o. Hegre & Sambanis (2006), describe current research on the onset of Civil War as a Lakatosian research programme? Analyze its main features and consider whether it is still progressive. If you want to argue that it cannot be described as such, why not and what would be a more appropriate framework to analyze this body of research. Hegre, Havard, and Nicholas Sambanis (2006), Sensitivity Analysis of Empirical Results on Civil War Onset, Journal of Conflict Resolution 50 (4), Identify the core elements of the scientific working methods of ideology and discourse analysis. To what extent can they be considered reasonable as described by John Ziman? 3. Use the possibility of flouting of social norms to analyze the (ir)relevance of the falsification principle for social scientific knowledge. 4. In what sense, and with reference to a particular area of research, does rational choice theory present a paradigmatic shift? 5. Does method matter? Length: 3,000 words; Due date: Week 9 (29/11) 1

2 Outline of Part I: Week 3: Q: What does science as used in philosophy of science / political science actually refer to? A: It is a particular kind of human activity (Ziman) which yields (or is supposed to yield) a particular product: theory / knowledge (Wagner: application to IR). Week 4: Q: How do scientists generate knowledge? A: By knowing when we are wrong (Popper), or by formulating new perspectives / paradigms (Kuhn), or by way of the methodology of research programmes (Lakatos). Week 5: Q: Do political scientists generate any knowledge? A: Insights from philosophy of science seem to have only limited applicability to political science. Week 6: Q: Are the social sciences fundamentally different? A: The (relative) importance of meaning (Braybrooke) and emancipation (Fay). Week 7: Q: Does philosophy of science provide a blueprint for fruitful scientific activity? A (Feyerabend): no. Practicalities: One hour lecture and one hour seminar. 2. Philosophy of Science It occurs to me that the title (philosophy of science) of part I of the module is actually somewhat misleading. I cannot (and do not want to) claim that I will be able to do justice to this particular area of philosophy. Rather the aim of part I is to make you familiar with how concepts and insights that have their origins in the philosophy of science have influenced political science, or at least on how we commonly think about political science. For whatever it is worth, my personal opinion is that even though it is occasionally wise to stand back and reflect on what one is doing, it is an activity that should come with a pretty strong health warning: science is somewhat like walking or shopping, we do it all the time and it becomes only tricky once we start reflecting upon it too much. But then again, if one keeps falling over (or returning home with useless stuff) it may be worthwhile to pause and think. Philosophy of science is an attempt to understand science and to examine whether the special claims of science are (or can be) justified (De Vries 1985, 9). Philosophy of science thus concerns itself with questions such as: What is science? What, if anything, is special about scientifically generated knowledge? Are there fundamental difference between natural and social sciences? Etc, etc. As de Vries (1985, 10) observes: a field of study, philosophy of science responds to external and internal problems. The internal problems are the issue and inconsistencies that emerge within the discipline (e.g., the debates between Popper, Kuhn, and Lakatos). As field philosophy of science has become increasingly influenced by related fields, such as mathematics, history and sociology (of science). External problems are developments in the sciences themselves. The strict distinction between philosophy and science is relatively recent (although it is also possible to trace it 2

3 back to Aristotle). The range of topics that are considered open to scientific inquiry has increased steadily; most relevant for us from the natural (empirical, mathematical, experimental) to the social sciences, and in particular political science. The development of scientific inquiry has defined the fundamental problem for philosophy of science. Aristotle argued that a scientific explanation relied on empirical observation: science is moving from knowing a fact to understanding why the fact occurs. (1) Induction is formulating/recognizing what is general about specific cases/observations; (2) deduction is the second step where the general principles found under (1) are used as a premise to understand why a particular fact (conclusion) holds. Once it is accepted, however, that not only direct observation (empiricism) can help us to understand nature but also experimental methods (manipulation) and thought experiments (mathematical) methods, then it is necessary to argue for the quality (possibly even superiority) of these latter methods. To put it simply: why, if one can see the sun rise and fall, accept that the earth moves around the sun if an instrument is needed to establish this fact. It is useful to remind ourselves of how young political science really is as a discipline; it is only since the behaviour revolution of the late 1950s that it became widely accepted that the study of politics could be a science ; before that time it was generally seen as dominated by ideology. Political science as a discipline was initially established as a training in civic duty (and in the European post WW II context as an antidote against political naivety of many scientists who had willingly collaborated with the Nazis); thanks to this I was able to finance my graduate studies because all Texas undergraduates had to take at least two modules in political science. 3. (Political) Science So what is science? Wagner (2007, 5; paraphrasing Ziman) describes it as an enterprise in which scholars compete with each other in constructing nonobvious explanations of the phenomena they study that can withstand concerted attempts to discredit them. In other words, an activity or field of study becomes scientific if (a*) people are encouraged/rewarded for showing that existing explanations fall short of standards for justifying claims, (b) people reap rewards for constructing nonobvious explanations that survive attempts to discredit them as under (*), and (c) scholars should make their reasoning transparent and thus allow for (*). Essential to this particular understanding of science is: that science is a collective endeavour or a particular social institution, that it generates knowledge that cannot be demarcated from the act of knowing and the scientific enterprise, what Ziman (2000, 6) calls the social stability of scientific knowledge. that ultimately we know what science is by observing the academic ethos (Ziman 2000, 56 7) The obvious follow up question (which I will try to address in week 5) is whether political science adheres to this academic ethos? 3

4 4. Theory In the discussion so far, the aim of science is still to generate knowledge. In particular, science is about explaining rather than identifying regularities (although I think that Wagner is drawing the distinction too sharp; a lot of scientific work is actually engaged in identifying regularities where the distinguishing feature only seems to be the underlying (explanatory) motivation: e.g., the CERN project). Scientific knowledge is generally packaged as theory, so what is a theory? Ziman (2000, 118) refers back to what he said above: theories are social institutions. They must conform to the standards of the society in which they are established. In principle, the scientific community is total meritocratic and multicultural. For Wagner (2007, 7 8), a theory is a valid argument that can serve as an explanation of observed facts. What is wanted is not just anything that might be called a theory, but an explanation from which the facts in question can actually be derived. Validity demands that conclusions follow from acceptable/reasonable premises. For example: Premise 1: Labrador retrievers are friendly and good with children (Theory) Premise 2: This dog is a Labrador retriever (Initial Conditions) Conclusion: This dog will be friendly and good with children (Event). Mearsheimer (according to Wagner): Premise 1: There is no world government (IC) Premise 2: All states are capable of using force against other states (T?) Premise 3: No state can ever be certain that another state will not use force against it (T?) Premise 4: All states seek to maintain their territorial integrity and domestic autonomy (T?) Premise 5: States are rational actors (T?) Conclusion: Two states may go to war with each other though they both want only to survive. Wagner s point is that the conclusion does not follow from the premises. Even a weaker conclusion: namely that states want to acquire military superiority does not follow. In fact, it is not even obvious that Mearsheimer s theory is similar to the Labrador theory. The point that the conclusion does not follow from the premises is however well taken. In criticizing Waltz (Mearsheimer), Wagner seems to ask for a theory that is complete and consistent. A complete theory specifies all conclusions that follow from the premises and a consistent theory is that it no two conclusions are contradictory. It is possible to demonstrate mathematically that apart from the most simple/obvious theories, completeness and consistency cannot be demonstrated. In this sense, Wagner s claim that a theory should be valid may not be so modest after all. However, it is still more 4

5 modest than claims that (social) scientific theories should be imbued with meaning and/or emancipatory. Jonathan Culler (writing on theory in literature studies): A theory must be more than a hypothesis; it can t be obvious; it involves complex relations of a systematic kind among a number of factors; and it is not easily confirmed or disproved. Good starting point: 1) a theory should help us to understand something that we (or at least the theorist) find puzzling; 2) it should be informative (tell us something new); 3) a theory should have at least some general value (here the disagreement starts D1); 4) a theory should have some bearing on our understanding of reality (D2); and 5) a theory should have some practical value (D3). D1: Explanatory theories: universal versus descriptive (historical) theories. highly abstract to highly complex theory. parsimony versus descriptive richness. D2: Interpretative theories: rationality versus understanding. D3: Normative theories: objectivity (claim to true understanding) versus emancipation (multiple truths). Seminar Read the first chapter of Wagner. Discussion: Is Wagner s critique fair? Why (not)? Does Wagner s critique apply to other areas of study of politics? Do you know of a counterexample: that is a theory with conclusions that seem to follow from its premises? Do we need to know what ontology and methodology, and epistomology are all about? What is the academic ethos of political science? To what extent, does it conform to the principles outlines by Ziman? Is method an important element of the academic ethos in political science? What to make of any special status of the social sciences? What about the humanities (and areas of political science most influenced by the study of history/culture)? 5

Kuhn. History and Philosophy of STEM. Lecture 6

Kuhn. History and Philosophy of STEM. Lecture 6 Kuhn History and Philosophy of STEM Lecture 6 Thomas Kuhn (1922 1996) Getting to a Paradigm Their achievement was sufficiently unprecedented to attract an enduring group of adherents away from competing

More information

Relativism and the Social Construction of Science: Kuhn, Lakatos, Feyerabend

Relativism and the Social Construction of Science: Kuhn, Lakatos, Feyerabend Relativism and the Social Construction of Science: Kuhn, Lakatos, Feyerabend Theories as structures: Kuhn and Lakatos Science and Ideology: Feyerabend Science and Pseudoscience: Thagaard Theories as Structures:

More information

TROUBLING QUALITATIVE INQUIRY: ACCOUNTS AS DATA, AND AS PRODUCTS

TROUBLING QUALITATIVE INQUIRY: ACCOUNTS AS DATA, AND AS PRODUCTS TROUBLING QUALITATIVE INQUIRY: ACCOUNTS AS DATA, AND AS PRODUCTS Martyn Hammersley The Open University, UK Webinar, International Institute for Qualitative Methodology, University of Alberta, March 2014

More information

TEST BANK. Chapter 1 Historical Studies: Some Issues

TEST BANK. Chapter 1 Historical Studies: Some Issues TEST BANK Chapter 1 Historical Studies: Some Issues 1. As a self-conscious formal discipline, psychology is a. about 300 years old. * b. little more than 100 years old. c. only 50 years old. d. almost

More information

PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE INTS 4522 Spring Jack Donnelly and Martin Rhodes -

PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE INTS 4522 Spring Jack Donnelly and Martin Rhodes - PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE INTS 4522 Spring 2010 - Jack Donnelly and Martin Rhodes - What is the nature of social science and the knowledge that it produces? This course, which is intended to complement

More information

10/24/2016 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Lecture 4: Research Paradigms Paradigm is E- mail Mobile

10/24/2016 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Lecture 4: Research Paradigms Paradigm is E- mail Mobile Web: www.kailashkut.com RESEARCH METHODOLOGY E- mail srtiwari@ioe.edu.np Mobile 9851065633 Lecture 4: Research Paradigms Paradigm is What is Paradigm? Definition, Concept, the Paradigm Shift? Main Components

More information

Mixed Methods: In Search of a Paradigm

Mixed Methods: In Search of a Paradigm Mixed Methods: In Search of a Paradigm Ralph Hall The University of New South Wales ABSTRACT The growth of mixed methods research has been accompanied by a debate over the rationale for combining what

More information

INTRODUCTION TO THE POLITICS OF SOCIAL THEORY

INTRODUCTION TO THE POLITICS OF SOCIAL THEORY INTRODUCTION TO THE POLITICS OF SOCIAL THEORY Russell Keat + The critical theory of the Frankfurt School has exercised a major influence on debates within Marxism and the philosophy of science over the

More information

Part IV Social Science and Network Theory

Part IV Social Science and Network Theory Part IV Social Science and Network Theory 184 Social Science and Network Theory In previous chapters we have outlined the network theory of knowledge, and in particular its application to natural science.

More information

PHIL/HPS Philosophy of Science Fall 2014

PHIL/HPS Philosophy of Science Fall 2014 1 PHIL/HPS 83801 Philosophy of Science Fall 2014 Course Description This course surveys important developments in twentieth and twenty-first century philosophy of science, including logical empiricism,

More information

8/28/2008. An instance of great change or alteration in affairs or in some particular thing. (1450)

8/28/2008. An instance of great change or alteration in affairs or in some particular thing. (1450) 1 The action or fact, on the part of celestial bodies, of moving round in an orbit (1390) An instance of great change or alteration in affairs or in some particular thing. (1450) The return or recurrence

More information

ANALYSIS OF THE PREVAILING VIEWS REGARDING THE NATURE OF THEORY- CHANGE IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE

ANALYSIS OF THE PREVAILING VIEWS REGARDING THE NATURE OF THEORY- CHANGE IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE ANALYSIS OF THE PREVAILING VIEWS REGARDING THE NATURE OF THEORY- CHANGE IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE Jonathan Martinez Abstract: One of the best responses to the controversial revolutionary paradigm-shift theory

More information

What counts as a convincing scientific argument? Are the standards for such evaluation

What counts as a convincing scientific argument? Are the standards for such evaluation Cogent Science in Context: The Science Wars, Argumentation Theory, and Habermas. By William Rehg. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009. Pp. 355. Cloth, $40. Paper, $20. Jeffrey Flynn Fordham University Published

More information

"History of Modern Economic Thought"

History of Modern Economic Thought "History of Modern Economic Thought" Dr. Anirban Mukherjee Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and Sciences IIT-Kanpur Kanpur Topics 1.2 Mercantilism 1.3 Physiocracy Module 1 Pre Classical Thought

More information

Lecture 3 Kuhn s Methodology

Lecture 3 Kuhn s Methodology Lecture 3 Kuhn s Methodology We now briefly look at the views of Thomas S. Kuhn whose magnum opus, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), constitutes a turning point in the twentiethcentury philosophy

More information

INTRODUCTION TO NONREPRESENTATION, THOMAS KUHN, AND LARRY LAUDAN

INTRODUCTION TO NONREPRESENTATION, THOMAS KUHN, AND LARRY LAUDAN INTRODUCTION TO NONREPRESENTATION, THOMAS KUHN, AND LARRY LAUDAN Jeff B. Murray Walton College University of Arkansas 2012 Jeff B. Murray OBJECTIVE Develop Anderson s foundation for critical relativism.

More information

Texas Southern University. From the SelectedWorks of Anthony M Rodriguez Ph.D. Michael A Rodriguez, Ph.D., Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University. From the SelectedWorks of Anthony M Rodriguez Ph.D. Michael A Rodriguez, Ph.D., Texas Southern University Texas Southern University From the SelectedWorks of Anthony M Rodriguez Ph.D. 2015 Fiction, Science, or Faith The structure of scientific revolution: A planners perspective. Another visit to Thomas S.

More information

Université Libre de Bruxelles

Université Libre de Bruxelles Université Libre de Bruxelles Institut de Recherches Interdisciplinaires et de Développements en Intelligence Artificielle On the Role of Correspondence in the Similarity Approach Carlotta Piscopo and

More information

Caught in the Middle. Philosophy of Science Between the Historical Turn and Formal Philosophy as Illustrated by the Program of Kuhn Sneedified

Caught in the Middle. Philosophy of Science Between the Historical Turn and Formal Philosophy as Illustrated by the Program of Kuhn Sneedified Caught in the Middle. Philosophy of Science Between the Historical Turn and Formal Philosophy as Illustrated by the Program of Kuhn Sneedified Christian Damböck Institute Vienna Circle University of Vienna

More information

The Debate on Research in the Arts

The Debate on Research in the Arts Excerpts from The Debate on Research in the Arts 1 The Debate on Research in the Arts HENK BORGDORFF 2007 Research definitions The Research Assessment Exercise and the Arts and Humanities Research Council

More information

These are some notes to give you some idea of the content of the lecture they are not exhaustive, nor always accurate! So read the referenced work.

These are some notes to give you some idea of the content of the lecture they are not exhaustive, nor always accurate! So read the referenced work. Research Methods II: Lecture notes These are some notes to give you some idea of the content of the lecture they are not exhaustive, nor always accurate! So read the referenced work. Consider the approaches

More information

What Can Experimental Philosophy Do? David Chalmers

What Can Experimental Philosophy Do? David Chalmers What Can Experimental Philosophy Do? David Chalmers Cast of Characters X-Phi: Experimental Philosophy E-Phi: Empirical Philosophy A-Phi: Armchair Philosophy Challenges to Experimental Philosophy Empirical

More information

Humanities Learning Outcomes

Humanities Learning Outcomes University Major/Dept Learning Outcome Source Creative Writing The undergraduate degree in creative writing emphasizes knowledge and awareness of: literary works, including the genres of fiction, poetry,

More information

EPISTEMOLOGY, METHODOLOGY, AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

EPISTEMOLOGY, METHODOLOGY, AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES EPISTEMOLOGY, METHODOLOGY, AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES BOSTON STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE EDITED BY ROBERT S. COHEN AND MARX W. WARTOFSKY VOLUME 71 EPISTEMOLOGY, METHODOLOGY, AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

More information

Communication Studies Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:

Communication Studies Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: This article was downloaded by: [University Of Maryland] On: 31 August 2012, At: 13:11 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer

More information

MODULE 4. Is Philosophy Research? Music Education Philosophy Journals and Symposia

MODULE 4. Is Philosophy Research? Music Education Philosophy Journals and Symposia Modes of Inquiry II: Philosophical Research and the Philosophy of Research So What is Art? Kimberly C. Walls October 30, 2007 MODULE 4 Is Philosophy Research? Phelps, et al Rainbow & Froelich Heller &

More information

Seven remarks on artistic research. Per Zetterfalk Moving Image Production, Högskolan Dalarna, Falun, Sweden

Seven remarks on artistic research. Per Zetterfalk Moving Image Production, Högskolan Dalarna, Falun, Sweden Seven remarks on artistic research Per Zetterfalk Moving Image Production, Högskolan Dalarna, Falun, Sweden 11 th ELIA Biennial Conference Nantes 2010 Seven remarks on artistic research Creativity is similar

More information

Review of Krzysztof Brzechczyn, Idealization XIII: Modeling in History

Review of Krzysztof Brzechczyn, Idealization XIII: Modeling in History Review Essay Review of Krzysztof Brzechczyn, Idealization XIII: Modeling in History Giacomo Borbone University of Catania In the 1970s there appeared the Idealizational Conception of Science (ICS) an alternative

More information

Philip Kitcher and Gillian Barker, Philosophy of Science: A New Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 192

Philip Kitcher and Gillian Barker, Philosophy of Science: A New Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 192 Croatian Journal of Philosophy Vol. XV, No. 44, 2015 Book Review Philip Kitcher and Gillian Barker, Philosophy of Science: A New Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 192 Philip Kitcher

More information

Course Description: looks into the from a range dedicated too. Course Goals: Requirements: each), a 6-8. page writing. assignment. grade.

Course Description: looks into the from a range dedicated too. Course Goals: Requirements: each), a 6-8. page writing. assignment. grade. Philosophy of Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-10:50, 200 Pettigrew Bates College, Winter 2014 Professor William Seeley, 315 Hedge Hall Office Hours: 11-12 T/Th Sciencee (PHIL 235) Course Description: Scientific

More information

The Power of Ideas: Milton Friedman s Empirical Methodology

The Power of Ideas: Milton Friedman s Empirical Methodology The Power of Ideas: Milton Friedman s Empirical Methodology University of Chicago Milton Friedman and the Power of Ideas: Celebrating the Friedman Centennial Becker Friedman Institute November 9, 2012

More information

Introduction to The Handbook of Economic Methodology

Introduction to The Handbook of Economic Methodology Marquette University e-publications@marquette Economics Faculty Research and Publications Economics, Department of 1-1-1998 Introduction to The Handbook of Economic Methodology John B. Davis Marquette

More information

Domains of Inquiry (An Instrumental Model) and the Theory of Evolution. American Scientific Affiliation, 21 July, 2012

Domains of Inquiry (An Instrumental Model) and the Theory of Evolution. American Scientific Affiliation, 21 July, 2012 Domains of Inquiry (An Instrumental Model) and the Theory of Evolution 1 American Scientific Affiliation, 21 July, 2012 1 What is science? Why? How certain can we be of scientific theories? Why do so many

More information

The Shimer School Core Curriculum

The Shimer School Core Curriculum Basic Core Studies The Shimer School Core Curriculum Humanities 111 Fundamental Concepts of Art and Music Humanities 112 Literature in the Ancient World Humanities 113 Literature in the Modern World Social

More information

Kuhn Formalized. Christian Damböck Institute Vienna Circle University of Vienna

Kuhn Formalized. Christian Damböck Institute Vienna Circle University of Vienna Kuhn Formalized Christian Damböck Institute Vienna Circle University of Vienna christian.damboeck@univie.ac.at In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1996 [1962]), Thomas Kuhn presented his famous

More information

Hoyningen Symposium Systematicity: The Nature of Science

Hoyningen Symposium Systematicity: The Nature of Science Hoyningen Symposium Systematicity: The Nature of Science Tilburg, 22.02.2012 1 Synopsis Main Speaker: Professor Paul Hoyningen-Huene, University of Hannover The lectures present the content of a recently

More information

Social Mechanisms and Scientific Realism: Discussion of Mechanistic Explanation in Social Contexts Daniel Little, University of Michigan-Dearborn

Social Mechanisms and Scientific Realism: Discussion of Mechanistic Explanation in Social Contexts Daniel Little, University of Michigan-Dearborn Social Mechanisms and Scientific Realism: Discussion of Mechanistic Explanation in Social Contexts Daniel Little, University of Michigan-Dearborn The social mechanisms approach to explanation (SM) has

More information

Immanuel Kant Critique of Pure Reason

Immanuel Kant Critique of Pure Reason Immanuel Kant Critique of Pure Reason THE A PRIORI GROUNDS OF THE POSSIBILITY OF EXPERIENCE THAT a concept, although itself neither contained in the concept of possible experience nor consisting of elements

More information

Kuhn s Notion of Scientific Progress. Christian Damböck Institute Vienna Circle University of Vienna

Kuhn s Notion of Scientific Progress. Christian Damböck Institute Vienna Circle University of Vienna Kuhn s Notion of Scientific Progress Christian Damböck Institute Vienna Circle University of Vienna christian.damboeck@univie.ac.at a community of scientific specialists will do all it can to ensure the

More information

3. The knower s perspective is essential in the pursuit of knowledge. To what extent do you agree?

3. The knower s perspective is essential in the pursuit of knowledge. To what extent do you agree? 3. The knower s perspective is essential in the pursuit of knowledge. To what extent do you agree? Nature of the Title The essay requires several key terms to be unpacked. However, the most important is

More information

observation and conceptual interpretation

observation and conceptual interpretation 1 observation and conceptual interpretation Most people will agree that observation and conceptual interpretation constitute two major ways through which human beings engage the world. Questions about

More information

This is an electronic reprint of the original article. This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail.

This is an electronic reprint of the original article. This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. This is an electronic reprint of the original article. This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Author(s): Arentshorst, Hans Title: Book Review : Freedom s Right.

More information

ARISTOTLE AND THE UNITY CONDITION FOR SCIENTIFIC DEFINITIONS ALAN CODE [Discussion of DAVID CHARLES: ARISTOTLE ON MEANING AND ESSENCE]

ARISTOTLE AND THE UNITY CONDITION FOR SCIENTIFIC DEFINITIONS ALAN CODE [Discussion of DAVID CHARLES: ARISTOTLE ON MEANING AND ESSENCE] ARISTOTLE AND THE UNITY CONDITION FOR SCIENTIFIC DEFINITIONS ALAN CODE [Discussion of DAVID CHARLES: ARISTOTLE ON MEANING AND ESSENCE] Like David Charles, I am puzzled about the relationship between Aristotle

More information

Challenging the View That Science is Value Free

Challenging the View That Science is Value Free Intersect, Vol 10, No 2 (2017) Challenging the View That Science is Value Free A Book Review of IS SCIENCE VALUE FREE? VALUES AND SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING. By Hugh Lacey. London and New York: Routledge,

More information

COURSE: PHILOSOPHY GRADE(S): NATIONAL STANDARDS: UNIT OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to: STATE STANDARDS:

COURSE: PHILOSOPHY GRADE(S): NATIONAL STANDARDS: UNIT OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to: STATE STANDARDS: COURSE: PHILOSOPHY GRADE(S): 11-12 UNIT: WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY TIMEFRAME: 2 weeks NATIONAL STANDARDS: STATE STANDARDS: 8.1.12 B Synthesize and evaluate historical sources Literal meaning of historical passages

More information

A Comprehensive Critical Study of Gadamer s Hermeneutics

A Comprehensive Critical Study of Gadamer s Hermeneutics REVIEW A Comprehensive Critical Study of Gadamer s Hermeneutics Kristin Gjesdal: Gadamer and the Legacy of German Idealism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. xvii + 235 pp. ISBN 978-0-521-50964-0

More information

Thomas Kuhn s Concept of Incommensurability and the Stegmüller/Sneed Program as a Formal Approach to that Concept

Thomas Kuhn s Concept of Incommensurability and the Stegmüller/Sneed Program as a Formal Approach to that Concept Thomas Kuhn s Concept of Incommensurability and the Stegmüller/Sneed Program as a Formal Approach to that Concept Christian Damböck Institute Vienna Circle 2010-06-26 (HOPOS 2010, Budapest) Overview The

More information

Valuable Particulars

Valuable Particulars CHAPTER ONE Valuable Particulars One group of commentators whose discussion this essay joins includes John McDowell, Martha Nussbaum, Nancy Sherman, and Stephen G. Salkever. McDowell is an early contributor

More information

Incommensurability and Partial Reference

Incommensurability and Partial Reference Incommensurability and Partial Reference Daniel P. Flavin Hope College ABSTRACT The idea within the causal theory of reference that names hold (largely) the same reference over time seems to be invalid

More information

Logic and Philosophy of Science (LPS)

Logic and Philosophy of Science (LPS) Logic and Philosophy of Science (LPS) 1 Logic and Philosophy of Science (LPS) Courses LPS 29. Critical Reasoning. 4 Units. Introduction to analysis and reasoning. The concepts of argument, premise, and

More information

DRAFT (July 2018) Government 744 Foundations of Security Studies. Fall 2017 Wednesdays 7:20-10:00 PM Founders Hall 475

DRAFT (July 2018) Government 744 Foundations of Security Studies. Fall 2017 Wednesdays 7:20-10:00 PM Founders Hall 475 DRAFT (July 2018) Government 744 Foundations of Security Studies Fall 2017 Wednesdays 7:20-10:00 PM Founders Hall 475 Professor John Gordon Email: jgordon@rand.org Course description This course will provide

More information

SocioBrains THE INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF ART

SocioBrains THE INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF ART THE INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF ART Tatyana Shopova Associate Professor PhD Head of the Center for New Media and Digital Culture Department of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Arts South-West University

More information

Lecture 12 Aristotle on Knowledge of Principles

Lecture 12 Aristotle on Knowledge of Principles Lecture 12 Aristotle on Knowledge of Principles Patrick Maher Scientific Thought I Fall 2009 Introduction We ve seen that according to Aristotle: One way to understand something is by having a demonstration

More information

Is Genetic Epistemology of Any Interest for Semiotics?

Is Genetic Epistemology of Any Interest for Semiotics? Daniele Barbieri Is Genetic Epistemology of Any Interest for Semiotics? At the beginning there was cybernetics, Gregory Bateson, and Jean Piaget. Then Ilya Prigogine, and new biology came; and eventually

More information

Creative Actualization: A Meliorist Theory of Values

Creative Actualization: A Meliorist Theory of Values Book Review Creative Actualization: A Meliorist Theory of Values Nate Jackson Hugh P. McDonald, Creative Actualization: A Meliorist Theory of Values. New York: Rodopi, 2011. xxvi + 361 pages. ISBN 978-90-420-3253-8.

More information

Four Characteristic Research Paradigms

Four Characteristic Research Paradigms Part II... Four Characteristic Research Paradigms INTRODUCTION Earlier I identified two contrasting beliefs in methodology: one as a mechanism for securing validity, and the other as a relationship between

More information

Verity Harte Plato on Parts and Wholes Clarendon Press, Oxford 2002

Verity Harte Plato on Parts and Wholes Clarendon Press, Oxford 2002 Commentary Verity Harte Plato on Parts and Wholes Clarendon Press, Oxford 2002 Laura M. Castelli laura.castelli@exeter.ox.ac.uk Verity Harte s book 1 proposes a reading of a series of interesting passages

More information

Logic, Truth and Inquiry (Book Review)

Logic, Truth and Inquiry (Book Review) University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Philosophy Faculty Publications Philosophy 2013 Logic, Truth and Inquiry (Book Review) G. C. Goddu University of Richmond, ggoddu@richmond.edu Follow this

More information

DOES THEOLOGY NEED A PARADIGM? LEARNING FROM ORGANIZATION SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH

DOES THEOLOGY NEED A PARADIGM? LEARNING FROM ORGANIZATION SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH European Journal of Science and Theology, March 2005, Vol.1, No.1, 27-37 DOES THEOLOGY NEED A PARADIGM? LEARNING FROM ORGANIZATION SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH Edwin Koster * Free University, Faculty

More information

[My method is] a science that studies the life of signs within society I shall call it semiology from the Greek semeion signs (Saussure)

[My method is] a science that studies the life of signs within society I shall call it semiology from the Greek semeion signs (Saussure) Week 12: 24 November Ferdinand de Saussure: Early Structuralism and Linguistics Reading: John Storey, Chapter 6: Structuralism and post-structuralism (first half of article only, pp. 87-98) John Hartley,

More information

Scientific Revolutions as Events: A Kuhnian Critique of Badiou

Scientific Revolutions as Events: A Kuhnian Critique of Badiou University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Critical Reflections Essays of Significance & Critical Reflections 2017 Apr 1st, 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM Scientific Revolutions as Events: A Kuhnian Critique of

More information

Discourse analysis is an umbrella term for a range of methodological approaches that

Discourse analysis is an umbrella term for a range of methodological approaches that Wiggins, S. (2009). Discourse analysis. In Harry T. Reis & Susan Sprecher (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Human Relationships. Pp. 427-430. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Discourse analysis Discourse analysis is an

More information

26:010:685 Social Science Methods in Accounting Research

26:010:685 Social Science Methods in Accounting Research 26:010:685 Social Science Methods in Accounting Research Dr. Peter R. Gillett Associate Professor Department of Accounting & Information Systems Rutgers Business School Newark & New Brunswick 1 Overview

More information

ON PARADIGMS, THEORIES AND MODELS. Fecha de recepción: 7 de agosto de Fecha de aprobación: 7 de octubre de 2002.

ON PARADIGMS, THEORIES AND MODELS. Fecha de recepción: 7 de agosto de Fecha de aprobación: 7 de octubre de 2002. Heider A. Khan* Fecha de recepción 7 de agosto de 2002. Fecha de aprobación 7 de octubre de 2002. The conflation of the distinct terms paradigms, theories, and models is an all-too-frequent source of confusion

More information

Department of American Studies M.A. thesis requirements

Department of American Studies M.A. thesis requirements Department of American Studies M.A. thesis requirements I. General Requirements The requirements for the Thesis in the Department of American Studies (DAS) fit within the general requirements holding for

More information

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Overall grade boundaries Grade: E D C B A Mark range: 0-7 8-15 16-22 23-28 29-36 The range and suitability of the work submitted As has been true for some years, the majority

More information

Categories and Schemata

Categories and Schemata Res Cogitans Volume 1 Issue 1 Article 10 7-26-2010 Categories and Schemata Anthony Schlimgen Creighton University Follow this and additional works at: http://commons.pacificu.edu/rescogitans Part of the

More information

1 Introduction. Cambridge University Press Realist Constructivism Samuel Barkin Excerpt More information

1 Introduction. Cambridge University Press Realist Constructivism Samuel Barkin Excerpt More information 1 Introduction In the sociology of science, paradigms are a bit like castles. 1 Scientists are knights in this metaphor, and assumptions are the liege-lords that the knights/scientists are sworn to defend.

More information

A Family Resemblance Approach to the Nature of Science for Science Education

A Family Resemblance Approach to the Nature of Science for Science Education A Family Resemblance Approach to the Nature of Science for Science Education Gürol Irzik Robert Nola Published online: 25 August 2010 Abstract Although there is universal consensus both in the science

More information

PHILOSOPHY. Grade: E D C B A. Mark range: The range and suitability of the work submitted

PHILOSOPHY. Grade: E D C B A. Mark range: The range and suitability of the work submitted Overall grade boundaries PHILOSOPHY Grade: E D C B A Mark range: 0-7 8-15 16-22 23-28 29-36 The range and suitability of the work submitted The submitted essays varied with regards to levels attained.

More information

The Epistemological Status of Theoretical Simplicity YINETH SANCHEZ

The Epistemological Status of Theoretical Simplicity YINETH SANCHEZ Running head: THEORETICAL SIMPLICITY The Epistemological Status of Theoretical Simplicity YINETH SANCHEZ David McNaron, Ph.D., Faculty Adviser Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Humanities

More information

WHAT S LEFT OF HUMAN NATURE? A POST-ESSENTIALIST, PLURALIST AND INTERACTIVE ACCOUNT OF A CONTESTED CONCEPT. Maria Kronfeldner

WHAT S LEFT OF HUMAN NATURE? A POST-ESSENTIALIST, PLURALIST AND INTERACTIVE ACCOUNT OF A CONTESTED CONCEPT. Maria Kronfeldner WHAT S LEFT OF HUMAN NATURE? A POST-ESSENTIALIST, PLURALIST AND INTERACTIVE ACCOUNT OF A CONTESTED CONCEPT Maria Kronfeldner Forthcoming 2018 MIT Press Book Synopsis February 2018 For non-commercial, personal

More information

SAMPLE COURSE OUTLINE PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS GENERAL YEAR 12

SAMPLE COURSE OUTLINE PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS GENERAL YEAR 12 SAMPLE COURSE OUTLINE PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS GENERAL YEAR 12 Copyright School Curriculum and Standards Authority, 2015 This document apart from any third party copyright material contained in it may be

More information

High School Photography 1 Curriculum Essentials Document

High School Photography 1 Curriculum Essentials Document High School Photography 1 Curriculum Essentials Document Boulder Valley School District Department of Curriculum and Instruction February 2012 Introduction The Boulder Valley Elementary Visual Arts Curriculum

More information

Logic and argumentation techniques. Dialogue types, rules

Logic and argumentation techniques. Dialogue types, rules Logic and argumentation techniques Dialogue types, rules Types of debates Argumentation These theory is concerned wit the standpoints the arguers make and what linguistic devices they employ to defend

More information

THE EVOLUTIONARY VIEW OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS Dragoş Bîgu dragos_bigu@yahoo.com Abstract: In this article I have examined how Kuhn uses the evolutionary analogy to analyze the problem of scientific progress.

More information

SURVEYS FOR REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

SURVEYS FOR REFLECTIVE PRACTICE SURVEYS FOR REFLECTIVE PRACTICE These surveys are designed to help teachers collect feedback from students about their use of the forty-one elements of effective teaching. The high school student survey

More information

HPS 1653 / PHIL 1610 Introduction to the Philosophy of Science

HPS 1653 / PHIL 1610 Introduction to the Philosophy of Science HPS 1653 / PHIL 1610 Introduction to the Philosophy of Science Lakatos: Research Programmes Adam Caulton adam.caulton@gmail.com Monday 6 October 2014 Lakatos Imre Lakatos (1922-1974) Chalmers, WITTCS?,

More information

Cyclic vs. circular argumentation in the Conceptual Metaphor Theory ANDRÁS KERTÉSZ CSILLA RÁKOSI* In: Cognitive Linguistics 20-4 (2009),

Cyclic vs. circular argumentation in the Conceptual Metaphor Theory ANDRÁS KERTÉSZ CSILLA RÁKOSI* In: Cognitive Linguistics 20-4 (2009), Cyclic vs. circular argumentation in the Conceptual Metaphor Theory ANDRÁS KERTÉSZ CSILLA RÁKOSI* In: Cognitive Linguistics 20-4 (2009), 703-732. Abstract In current debates Lakoff and Johnson s Conceptual

More information

Modeling Scientific Revolutions: Gärdenfors and Levi on the Nature of Paradigm Shifts

Modeling Scientific Revolutions: Gärdenfors and Levi on the Nature of Paradigm Shifts Lunds Universitet Filosofiska institutionen kurs: FTE704:2 Handledare: Erik Olsson Modeling Scientific Revolutions: Gärdenfors and Levi on the Nature of Paradigm Shifts David Westlund 801231-2453 Contents

More information

Aristotle. Aristotle. Aristotle and Plato. Background. Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle and Plato

Aristotle. Aristotle. Aristotle and Plato. Background. Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle and Plato Aristotle Aristotle Lived 384-323 BC. He was a student of Plato. Was the tutor of Alexander the Great. Founded his own school: The Lyceum. He wrote treatises on physics, cosmology, biology, psychology,

More information

Incommensurability and the Bonfire of the Meta-Theories: Response to Mizrahi Lydia Patton, Virginia Tech

Incommensurability and the Bonfire of the Meta-Theories: Response to Mizrahi Lydia Patton, Virginia Tech Incommensurability and the Bonfire of the Meta-Theories: Response to Mizrahi Lydia Patton, Virginia Tech What is Taxonomic Incommensurability? Moti Mizrahi states Kuhn s thesis of taxonomic incommensurability

More information

1/6. The Anticipations of Perception

1/6. The Anticipations of Perception 1/6 The Anticipations of Perception The Anticipations of Perception treats the schematization of the category of quality and is the second of Kant s mathematical principles. As with the Axioms of Intuition,

More information

Hypatia, Volume 21, Number 3, Summer 2006, pp (Review) DOI: /hyp For additional information about this article

Hypatia, Volume 21, Number 3, Summer 2006, pp (Review) DOI: /hyp For additional information about this article Reading across Borders: Storytelling and Knowledges of Resistance (review) Susan E. Babbitt Hypatia, Volume 21, Number 3, Summer 2006, pp. 203-206 (Review) Published by Indiana University Press DOI: 10.1353/hyp.2006.0018

More information

SUMMARY BOETHIUS AND THE PROBLEM OF UNIVERSALS

SUMMARY BOETHIUS AND THE PROBLEM OF UNIVERSALS SUMMARY BOETHIUS AND THE PROBLEM OF UNIVERSALS The problem of universals may be safely called one of the perennial problems of Western philosophy. As it is widely known, it was also a major theme in medieval

More information

Necessity in Kant; Subjective and Objective

Necessity in Kant; Subjective and Objective Necessity in Kant; Subjective and Objective DAVID T. LARSON University of Kansas Kant suggests that his contribution to philosophy is analogous to the contribution of Copernicus to astronomy each involves

More information

Part II. Rational Theories of Leisure. Karl Spracklen

Part II. Rational Theories of Leisure. Karl Spracklen Part II Rational Theories of Leisure Karl Spracklen Introduction By calling this section of the handbook the part concerning rational theories of leisure, we are not suggesting that everything in the other

More information

EDUCATION AND ITS INTEREST IN INTERDISCIPLINARITY

EDUCATION AND ITS INTEREST IN INTERDISCIPLINARITY Philosophica 48 (1991,2) pp. 81-91 EDUCATION AND ITS INTEREST IN INTERDISCIPLINARITY Aagje Van Cauwelaert To what extent is interdisciplinarity a part of European education programmes? What does interdisciplinarity

More information

Contemporary Philosophy of Science and Neoinstitutional Thought

Contemporary Philosophy of Science and Neoinstitutional Thought University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln CBA Faculty Publications Business, College of June 1988 Contemporary Philosophy of Science and Neoinstitutional Thought

More information

1/10. The A-Deduction

1/10. The A-Deduction 1/10 The A-Deduction Kant s transcendental deduction of the pure concepts of understanding exists in two different versions and this week we are going to be looking at the first edition version. After

More information

Environmental Ethics: From Theory to Practice

Environmental Ethics: From Theory to Practice Environmental Ethics: From Theory to Practice Marion Hourdequin Companion Website Material Chapter 1 Companion website by Julia Liao and Marion Hourdequin ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

More information

KINDS (NATURAL KINDS VS. HUMAN KINDS)

KINDS (NATURAL KINDS VS. HUMAN KINDS) KINDS (NATURAL KINDS VS. HUMAN KINDS) Both the natural and the social sciences posit taxonomies or classification schemes that divide their objects of study into various categories. Many philosophers hold

More information

(as methodology) are not always distinguished by Steward: he says,

(as methodology) are not always distinguished by Steward: he says, SOME MISCONCEPTIONS OF MULTILINEAR EVOLUTION1 William C. Smith It is the object of this paper to consider certain conceptual difficulties in Julian Steward's theory of multillnear evolution. The particular

More information

EXPANDED COURSE DESCRIPTIONS UC DAVIS PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT SPRING, Michael Glanzberg MWF 10:00-10:50a.m., 176 Everson CRNs:

EXPANDED COURSE DESCRIPTIONS UC DAVIS PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT SPRING, Michael Glanzberg MWF 10:00-10:50a.m., 176 Everson CRNs: EXPANDED COURSE DESCRIPTIONS UC DAVIS PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT SPRING, 2006 PHILOSOPHY 1 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY Michael Glanzberg MWF 10:00-10:50a.m., 176 Everson CRNs: 86179-86186 TEXT: Reason and Responsibility,

More information

The UCD community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters!

The UCD community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters! Provided by the author(s) and University College Dublin Library in accordance with publisher policies., Please cite the published version when available. Title Incommensurability, relativism, and scientific

More information

PHL 317K 1 Fall 2017 Overview of Weeks 1 5

PHL 317K 1 Fall 2017 Overview of Weeks 1 5 PHL 317K 1 Fall 2017 Overview of Weeks 1 5 We officially started the class by discussing the fact/opinion distinction and reviewing some important philosophical tools. A critical look at the fact/opinion

More information

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at Response: Divergent Stakeholder Theory Author(s): R. Edward Freeman Source: The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr., 1999), pp. 233-236 Published by: Academy of Management Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/259078

More information

Critical Thinking 4.2 First steps in analysis Overcoming the natural attitude Acknowledging the limitations of perception

Critical Thinking 4.2 First steps in analysis Overcoming the natural attitude Acknowledging the limitations of perception 4.2.1. Overcoming the natural attitude The term natural attitude was used by the philosopher Alfred Schütz to describe the practical, common-sense approach that we all adopt in our daily lives. We assume

More information

PHD THESIS SUMMARY: Phenomenology and economics PETR ŠPECIÁN

PHD THESIS SUMMARY: Phenomenology and economics PETR ŠPECIÁN Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, Volume 7, Issue 1, Spring 2014, pp. 161-165. http://ejpe.org/pdf/7-1-ts-2.pdf PHD THESIS SUMMARY: Phenomenology and economics PETR ŠPECIÁN PhD in economic

More information

Kuhn and coherentist epistemology

Kuhn and coherentist epistemology Discussion Kuhn and coherentist epistemology Dunja Šešelja and Christian Straßer Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science, Ghent University (UGent), Blandijnberg 2, Gent, Belgium E-mail address: dunja.seselja@ugent.be

More information