All scientific research is conducted against a background of a conception of science: what it is and what it should be like. Frequently, however, this conception remains implicit – but this does not mean that it is incapable of guiding the inquiry. This course discusses and analyses the most important presuppositions of current conceptions of (social) science.
Attention will be paid to the great debates on the general status of science: both classic and contemporary authors such as Weber, Popper, Kuhn, Elster, and others will be discussed. In particular, the peculiarities of social science research will be addressed. Issues in the explanation of action and causation will be discussed, but also epistemological assumptions, the interpretation of sources and data, and logical or conceptual analysis. The objective of this course is to give the student an idea of how to locate the individual research project in a tradition of thinking on social science and to grasp its ontological and epistemological presuppositions as well as its methodological and logical requirements.
Method of Instruction
Seminar sessions and presentations
Literature
Gerard Delanty & Piet Strydom, Philosophies of Social Science: The Classic And Contemporary Readings. Open University Press (2003), 496 pp., paperback approx. EUR 38.99
Examination
Presentation and final paper
Schedule
Philosophy of Science – Patrick Overeem
Tuesday 1 February till 22 March, 11.00 – 13.00 hrs in 3B08