Philosophy of the Social Sciences

In this ground-breaking new text, Patrick Baert analyses the central perspectives in the philosophy of social science, critically investigating the work of Durkheim, Weber, Popper, critical realism, critical theory, and Rorty's neo-pragmatism. His lively account places key intellectual figures within the social and political contexts in which they were writing, and clearly shows how their views translated into empirical research. Philosophy of Social Sciences: Towards Pragmatism is both an authoritative textbook, and an invitation to engage in an exciting new research agenda. This lively textbook will be helpful to upper-level students looking for a detailed, and yet lucid, account of the main positions in the philosophy of the social sciences. It will also appeal to those researchers who are sympathetic towards the pragmatist view that knowledge has the potential to increase the scope of human possibilities