Philosophy and Methodology in the Social Sciences - Softcover

Hindess, Barry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0855275278 ISBN 13: 9780855275273

Publisher: Branch Line

Synopsis

The first six chapters of this book provide a systematic critique
of epistemological and philosophical interventions in the social
sciences and of prescriptive methodology in general. The first
chapter examines the methodological doctrines of Max Weber
and his definition of sociology a science of social action. I
argue that Weber's definition of sociology is based on an essentially religious, metaphysical conception of man, that his
methodology is relativistic and irrationalist, and that his concept
of scientific objectivity is a façade for an underlying notion of
verisimilitude, of plausibility and subjective conviction. The next
two chapters deal directly with phenomenology and
phenomenological sociology. The first is an extended critique
of the work of Alfred Schutz, showing that it reduces the social
sciences laterally to story-telling and, further, that far from
being an application of Husserl's philosophy it represents a
vulgar psychologistic distortion of it. The second examines
Husserl's conception of the nature of the sciences and of
philosophy in The Crisis of European Sciences and
Transcendental Phenomenology and argues that, despite its
rigour, Husserl's epistemology is structured around a number
of crucial contradictions which render it ultimately incoherent. It
follows that there can be no rational or coherent
phenomenological 'foundation' of the social sciences

Edition details

• Publisher: Branch Line
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0855275278
• ISBN 13: 9780855275273
• Binding: Paperback