History and Philosophy of the Social Sciences

Course goals

Upon successful completion of the course the student:

• has acquired knowledge of methods and approaches in various social sciences;
• can understand, contextualise, and discuss concepts proper to the philosophy of the social sciences (e.g., objectivity, reflexivity, ...);
• has practiced skills in oral presentations;
• has practiced skills in writing a paper in the field of the philosophy of the social sciences;
• has practiced skills in seminar discussions (formulating questions, replying to questions, contributing to the debate) and in giving peer feedback.

 

Content

What do disciplines like sociology, demography, or anthropology study? Are they sciences? And if they are, what are their specific methods and objects of enquiry? Are they objective? In this course, we familiarize with the objects and methods of the social sciences. For instance, we discuss what makes sociology distinct from, or similar to, psychology or anthropology; or, how economics studies the management of goods and services from a more descriptive or normative perspective. We devote particular attention to explanation and modelling, both in quantitative and qualitative methods, assessing their respective advantages and limitations in addressing various questions about social phenomena. We will also tackle various issues about ‘social’ reality, the extent to which it differs from, or is similar to, the reality studied by the natural or life sciences. During the course we examine philosophical and methodological texts, as well case studies from social science research, both contemporary and from the past.