Philosophical Foundations of the Social Sciences: Analyzing Controversies in Social Research

This book defends the prospects for a science of society. It argues that behind the diverse methods of the natural sciences lies a common core of scientific rationality that the social sciences can and sometimes do achieve. It also argues that good social science must be in part about large-scale social structures and processes and thus that methodological individualism is misguided. These theses are supported by a detailed discussion of actual social research, including theories of agrarian revolution, organizational ecology, social theories of depression, and supply-demand explanations in economics.

Harold Kincaid is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His articles have appeared in such journals as Synthese, Philosophy of Science, and Philosophy of the Social Sciences