Universität Wien
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180165 SE Philosophy of the Social Sciences (2021W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 18 - Philosophie
Continuous assessment of course work
REMOTE
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 30 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Depending on the Covid-situation, the course will taught online or in person.

  • Tuesday 12.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Tuesday 19.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Tuesday 09.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Tuesday 16.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Tuesday 23.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Tuesday 30.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Tuesday 07.12. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Tuesday 14.12. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Tuesday 11.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Tuesday 18.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital
  • Tuesday 25.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Digital

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Introduction to the philosophy of the social sciences based on influential texts and authors. Participants will read these texts, formulate written questions, and discuss the texts and these questions during the seminar. A further goal is the ability to write a scientific contribution (of the length of a journal article).

In order to familiarise yourself with the level and themes of the course, you could check out: Mark Risjord, PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, Routledge, London, 2014.

Assessment and permitted materials

Evaluation of the participation in discussions (20% of the overall mark), of the prepared and uploaded questions (20%) as well as the essay (of about 20 pages, Font 12, Times New Roman) (60%)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Regular attendance (not more than once without a doctor's note); punctual attendance; care (in reading the work of other and regarding one's own presentation); argumentative engagement with others' ideas; regular uploading of questions (at least 10 times) -- Independent essay on one of the topics of the course.

The essay should discuss one of the questions raised in the seminar, and it should be based primarily on the literature discussed in class. It could be, e.g., a critique of one of the positions introduxzced, or an attempt to "decide" one of the debates covered in the seminar.

The overall mark consists of three components:

Mark for the essay: 60% i.e. 60 points
Mark for the questions/comments: 20% i.e. 20 points
Mark for participation in classroom discussion: 20% i.e. 20 points

Your need at least 40 points to complete the course.
All components have to be delivered for there to be a final mark.

Scale for the marks:
1: 85-100 points
2: 70-84 points
3: 55-69 points
4: 40-54 points
5: 0-39 points

Examination topics

There is no exam

Reading list

1. Ontological Issues / Social Metaphysics -- Group Attitudes and Group Agency I

Longino, H. (2014), “Individuals or Populations?”, in N. Cartwright and E. Montuschi (eds.), Philosophy of the Social Sciences: A New Introduction, Oxford: Oxford U.P., 102-120

2. Ontological Issues / Social Metaphysics -- Group Attitudes and Group Agency II

Tollefsen, D. (2014), “Social Ontology”, in N. Cartwright and E. Montuschi (eds.), Philosophy of the Social Sciences: A New Introduction, Oxford: Oxford U.P., 85-101

3. Methodological Individualism and Holism I

List, C. and K. Spiekermann (2013), “Methodological Individualism and Holism in Political Science: A Reconciliation”, American Political Science Review 107: 629-643

4. Methodological Individualism and Holism II

Zahle, J. and H. Kincaid (2019), “Why be a Methodological Individualist?” Synthese 196: 655-675

5. Mechanism and Explanation

Hedström, P. and P. Ylikoski (2010), “Causal Mechanisms in the Social Sciences”, Annual Review of Sociology 36: 49-67.

6. Functional Explanation

Bigelow, John C.. Functionalism in social science, 1998, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-R008-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/functionalism-in-social-science/v-1.

Pettit, Ph. (1996), “Functional Explanation and Virtual Selection,” The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 47: 291-302.

7. Laws and the Social Sciences

Jhun, J. S. (2018), “What’s the Point of Ceteris Paribus? Or, How to Understand Supply and Demand Curves”, Philosophy of Science 85: 271-292

8. Understanding

Stueber, K. R. (2012), “Understanding Versus Explanation? How to Think about the Distinction between the Human and the Natural Sciences”, Inquiry 55: 17-32

Collingwood, R. (1936), “Human Nature and Human History”, in P. Gardiner (ed.), The Philosophy of History, Oxford: Oxford UP, 1974, pp. 17-40

9. Understanding (and the Relativism-Question)

Winch, P. (1964), “Understanding a Primitive Society”, American Philosophical Quarterly 4: 307-324

10. Critical Theory

Geuss, R. (1981), The Idea of a Critical Theory: Habermas and the Frankfurt School, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1981, 55-95

11. Feminist and Perspectives

Crasnow, S. (2014), “Feminist Standpoint Theory”, in N. Cartwright and E. Montuschi (eds.), Philosophy of the Social Sciences: A New Introduction, Oxford: Oxford U.P., 145-161

Wylie, A. (2014), “Community-Based Collaborative Archaeology”, in N. Cartwright and E. Montuschi (eds.), Philosophy of the Social Sciences: A New Introduction, Oxford: Oxford U.P., 68-82

12. Value Judgements / Objectivity

Alexandrova, A. (2018), “Can the Science of Well-Being be Objective?”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 69: 421-445

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Fr 12.05.2023 00:18