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Best introductory texts in philosophy of social science (or philosophy of a particular social science, e.g., economics)?

Brian Leiter

MOVING TO FRONT FROM YESTERDAY–MORE COMMENTS WELCOME

Continuing with our new series about the best introductory texts in various areas of philosophy, I now invite readers to name what they think are the best introductory texts in philosophy of social science (or philosophy of a particular social science, such as econmics).  As before, don't just name a text, but say something about why you think it's particularly notable or valuable.  Although you don't have to sign  your comment, I do think signed ones will carry more weight with readers.

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11 responses to “Best introductory texts in philosophy of social science (or philosophy of a particular social science, e.g., economics)?”

  1. David Morrice

    Over many years of teaching philosophy of social science to politics students I found Ted Benton and Ian Craib, Philosophy of Social Science to be very useful and well received by students. It covers the important debates between empiricism/positivism, interpretivism and critical realism, and deals also with feminist and post-structuralist and postmodernist approaches. It is particularly good on reason and rationality. The second edition of 2010 offers useful additional material, particularly on Winch.

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  2. Kevin V

    Jerry Gaus’s On Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. It covers a wide range of issues, including many in philosophy of economics, such as the nature of utility functions, philosophical questions in game theory such as whether the PD can be “solved,” and the role of heuristics and biases in the theory of economic rationality.

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  3. Jeff Frank

    Meira Levinson and Jacob Fay's books of case studies–"Dilemmas of Educational Ethics" and "Democratic Discord in Schools"–are excellent introductions to the philosophy of education. Each chapter has a realistically drawn case from education, followed by commentaries from philosophers, philosophers of education, policy-makers, practitioners, and educational researchers. A merit of this approach is that students get a sense for how to think philosophically about education while also getting a sense for some of the main contemporary issues in education. I've taught the books to undergraduates, and though the book can be challenging for students without some familiarity with the field education, I find that it generally inspires a desire to learn more and allows students to do good thinking and writing.

    As well, the Philosophy of Education Society publishes an open access Yearbook, and this is also a good place to start if one is willing to do some searching based on one's own interests. Yearbooks have a Presidential Address by a philosopher of education and a Distinguished Invited Essay (generally by a philosopher). The Yearbook pieces are short–4500 words–and are a good resource if one wants a feeling for the field of philosophy of education.

    Finally, Harry Brighouse and Michael McPherson's edited collection "The Aims of Higher Education: Problems of Morality and Justice" is a good collection that helps students think philosophically about higher education. More, it may be a particularly useful source for philosophers who are interested in writing about education. The book gives a good sense for how philosophers and philosophers of education address similar problems from different angles.

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  4. Murray Gregorson

    Hausman's compendium (Philosophy of Economics) remains, I think, an excellent introduction and overview. It takes us from the beginnings of the subject in Mill and Marx right through contemporary debates, using essays written by philosophers as well as (prominent) philosophically-minded economists. The central controversies are addressed, first, in seminal essays (Friedman on unrealistic assumptions, e.g.) and then in responses to those essays. The essays are grouped in such a way that the contrasts, such as they are, between the economist's and the philosopher's treatment of the subject are to the fore.

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  5. Muhammad Ali Khalidi

    When it comes to introductory textbooks, an excellent one is: Mark Risjord, Philosophy of Social Science: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge 2014). It’s both accessible and sophisticated, while also having broad coverage. Best of all, it delves into a number of fascinating (real) case studies, rather than toy examples. I’ve also recommended it to grad students who want to get up to speed on recent phil of social science.

    Among anthologies, a standard collection is, M. Martin & L. McIntyre (eds), Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science (MIT 1994), which contains many very useful classics (and, at nearly 800 pages, weighs a ton). But I think the best recent anthology, which consists of original articles by a range of established and emerging scholars, is Nancy Cartwright & Eleanora Montuschi (eds), Philosophy of Social Science: A New Introduction (Oxford 2015) — no prizes for noticing something significant about the list of contributors.

    I’d also give a shout-out to another great collection of original articles with many fine articles, C. Mantzavinos (ed.), Philosophy of the Social Sciences: Philosophical Theory and Scientific Practice (Cambridge 2009), parts of which I’ve used in a graduate-level introduction to phil of social science. It contains pieces by philosophers with responses by social scientists.

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  6. Matt

    It's not, I suppose, a general introduction to the philosophy of the social sciences, but Cristina Bicchieri's _Norms in the Wild_ is a great introduction to how social norms work, what role they play in social explanations, when and how they can be changed, and some of the limits on more intellectualist/rationalist accounts of social structures and behavior. It's a very nicely written book, easily accessible without being at all simplistic, and doesn't presuppose a great deal of knowledge of the area.
    (I suppose I should note that Bicchieri joined the Penn philosophy department when I was a grad student there, but though I knew her I never took any classes from her and wasn't her student, and I only read this book because some University of Melbourne philosophy grad students who were reading it recommended it to me.)

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  7. Paul Daniell

    In addition to Murray Gregorson's suggestion about Hausman's anthology, I would also suggest
    his book, _The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics_. I suppose the challenge in teaching
    any philosophy of a particular science is that one needs to teach at least a few things about the
    science itself before proceeding to more pertinent philosophical questions. There are of course many good
    textbooks in economic theory but the trouble is that, for the purposes of a philosophy course,
    either they are too shallow in content or they require a great deal of mathematical prologue.
    For example, students at the LSE studying _Microeconomic Theory_ by Mas-Colell et al. require
    a three week training seminar on mathematics, including a review of analysis, vector spaces,
    and various facts about topology. This would be really impractical for an introductory philosophy
    course.

    The nice thing about Hausman's text is that it provides a very lucid and entertaining review
    of microeconomic theory in its first part that I think any philosophy student could understand.
    He has a true talent to striking at just the right level in terms of mathematical detail. The
    remainder of his book is dedicated to reviewing approaches to economic methodology. In this respect,
    this book also excels — I think it could serve well as a general introduction to the philosophy
    of science.

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  8. Brad

    Having taught philosophy of the social sciences a number of years, I think the most successful text for student learning was Martin Hollis' The Philosophy of Social Science. It is playfully written, but it raises serious issues concerning the social sciences. But Dan Little's book Varieties of Social Explanations is worth mentioning also. It contains boxes – one page descriptions – citing real social scientific research that illustrates the philosophical issues that he analyzes.

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  9. LEE JUSSIM

    I'm a social psychologist, but I've been writing about sociology and philosophy and politics of social science research for about 10 years now.

    My favorite, single, introductory source is
    Rauch's Kindly Inquisitors.

    Its a rousing clarion call for foundational issues in how social science should be conducted masquerading as an anthemic defense of free inquiry.

    Here are some key ideas:

    Who has authority to decide when some debate or controversy is ended or resolved?
    No one.

    ""When people accept the notion that none of us is completely immune from error, they also implicitly accept that no person, no matter who he is or how strongly he believes, is above possible correction."

    The importance of this principle for the conduct of social science is repeatedly revealed through its violation.

    Its central, and, imho, more important than any issue in methods or stats or causality etc. Because all of that may be partially or completely
    wrong. The only way to ever figure that out? Embrace vigorous public criticism and discourse, even of canonical claims, eminent scientists, and scientific "consensuses."

    I've been blogging relentlessly on the dangers of punitive, censorious academic outrage mobs, but I will leave it there for now.

    Lee

    P.S. Brian? LOVE your posts on Sarah Braasch. I tweet out just about every one of them. THanks.

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  10. Tom Llewellyn

    I remember being impressed by Dangerous Currents by Lester Thurow. Shows how fragile our economic theories really are. Also Alexander Rosenberg's Economics—Mathematical Politics or Science of Diminishing Returns? This is a sophisticated critique of the field by an eminent philosopher of social science.

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  11. Alex Rosenberg

    I guess ill just tell my publisher to pulp the fifth edition of my “philosophy of social science” intro as no one seems to have used it and liked it over its 32 years of availability.

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