Philosophy of Social Sciences (PHD102)

Knowledge

After completing the course, students should:

• Have advanced knowledge of central issues in the philosophy of social science.
• Have advanced knowledge of major approaches to the relevant issues.
• Have advanced knowledge of the relevance of the philosophy of social science for social scientific research.

Skills

After completing the course, students should:

• Be able to formulate new research questions within the philosophy of social science.
• Be able to conduct research in the philosophy of social science at an international level.
• Be able to apply concepts and theories within the philosophy of social science to social scientific research in fruitful ways.

General competence

After completing the course, students should:

• Be able to communicate the results of research in the philosophy of social science through recognized national and international channels.
• Be able to participate in debates within the philosophy of social science in international fora.
• Be able to identify new and relevant ethical challenges, and conduct their research with academic integrity.

Participants must be enrolled in a PhD programme.

The course is integrated with PHD101: Research Design, but can also be taken as a stand-alone course.

At least one presentation.

Active participation in discussions

Fagperson(er)

Course coordinator:

Tarjei Mandt Larsen

The course will be given in the form of five full-day seminars. A detailed timetable will be made available at the beginning of the course-semester.

PhD candidates enrolled in PhD programmes at the University of Stavanger or accredited universities/university colleges in Norway or abroad.

The course participants are encouraged to contribute to the course evaluation. An evaluation form will be made available to the candidates after the papers are handed in.

Montuschi, E., & Cartwright, N. (Red.). (2014). Philosophy of social science : a new introduction. Oxford University Press.Halls, W. D., & Lukes, S. (Red.). (2014). Chapter 1: What is a Social Fact? I É. Durkheim, The rules of sociological method : and selected texts on sociology and its method (Free Press trade paperback edition, s. 20–28). Free Press.Chapter I: Mechanism. (1989). I J. Elster, Nuts and bolts for the social sciences (s. 3–10). Cambridge University Press.Chapter II: Desires and Opportunities. (1989). I J. Elster, Nuts and bolts for the social sciences (s. 13–21). Cambridge University Press.Chapter III: Rational Choice. (1989). I J. Elster, Nuts and bolts for the social sciences (s. 22–29). Cambridge University Press.Chapter IV: When Rationality Fails. (1989). I J. Elster, Nuts and bolts for the social sciences (s. 30–41). Cambridge University Press.Føllesdal, D. (1947). The Status of Rationality Assumptions in the Explanation of Action. Dialectica, 36(4), 301–316.Føllesdal, D. (1994). Hermeneutics and the Hypothetico-Deductive Method. I Michael Martin (1932-) (Red.), Readings in the philosophy of social science (s. 234–245). MIT Press.Chapter 13: Explanation. (2003). I P. Godfrey-Smith, Theory and reality : an introduction to the philosophy of science (s. 190–201). University of Chicago Press.Gorton, W. A. (9999). The Philosophy of Social Science. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://www.iep.utm.edu/soc-sci/Lukes, S. (2006). Searle and his critics. Anthropological Theory, 6(1), 5–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463499606061729Martin, D. (1994). Taylor on Interpretation and the Sciences of Man. I Michael Martin (1932-) (Red.), Readings in the philosophy of social science (s. 259–279). MIT Press.Pettit, P. (1995). THE VIRTUAL-REALITY OF HOMO-ECONOMICUS + A CONCILIATIONIST POSITION BETWEEN THE ECONOMIC AND COMMON-SENSE EXPLANATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR. Monist, 78(3), 308–329. https://doi.org/10.5840/monist199578322Reiss, J. (2009). Causation in the social sciences: evidence, inference, and purpose. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 39(1), 20–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/0048393108328150Searle, J. R. (2006). Social ontology: Some basic principles. Anthropological Theory, 6(1), 12–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463499606061731Steel, D. (2013). Causation in the Social Sciences (s. 71–73).Taylor, C. (1971). Interpretation and the Sciences of Man. Review of Metaphysic, 25, 3–51.Williamson, & Illari, J. (2013). Causation, Philosophical Views of (s. 67–70).Zahle, J. (2016). Methodological Holism in the Social Sciences. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Archive (Summer 2016 Edition). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2016/entries/holism-social/Chapter One: Why Ask What? (1999). I I. Hacking, The social construction of what? (s. X, 261 s.). Harvard University Press.

The course description is retrieved from FS (Felles studentsystem). Version 1