Philosophy 3520/5520:

Philosophy of Social Science

Winter 2011

M 14:35-17:25

Mona Campbell Building 2107

          Can people from different cultures understand each other? What is it to be a member of a culture? Are societies best thought of as collections of individuals, or are individuals constituted by societies? In what sense are the social sciences "sciences"? Are societies describable by explanatory laws? What counts as an explanation of human behaviour?

          This class will explore these and related questions through a reading of Brian Fay's Contemporary Philosophy of Social Science: A Multicultural Approach (Routledge, 1996) and an examination of writings by such authors as Donald Davidson, Emile Durkheim, Helen Longino, Alasdair MacIntyre, Karl Marx, Charles Taylor, Peter Winch, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Alison Wylie.

Instructor: Dr. Michael Hymers <Michael.Hymers@Dal.Ca>, McCain 3129

(Office Hours: W 2-3pm; F 1:30-2:30pm)

Prerequisite: Two full credits in Philosophy

Crosslisting: Political Science 3496

Texts: Brian Fay, Contemporary Philosophy of Social Science: A Multicultural Approach (Routledge, 1996)

          Various electronic resources/photocopies.

Evaluation:

Phil 3520 Undergraduates:

          Weekly Short Assignments (250-500 words each):                                           40%

Best 4 to 8, depending on class attendance. (See below.) At least two

 of those to be counted must be done by February 28.

One essay (2500-3000 words) due April 16:                                                           60%

PoliSci 3496 Undergraduates:

          Weekly Short Assignments (250-500 words each)                                            60%

                       Best 4 to 8, depending on class attendance. (See below.) At leasttwo

                     of those to be counted must be done by February 28.

Final exam in regular exam period:                                                                40%

Graduates:

Short Assignments (250-500 wds each); best 8:                                              40%

Two of these are to be presented to the class as short seminars.

One essay (4000-5000 wds) due April 16:                                                              60%

Term-work will be assigned a numerical mark, which will be converted to a letter-grade at the end of the term.

Approximate Grading Scale

Late Work:     Late work will be penalized 5% per working day up to a maximum of seven days, after which it will not be accepted.

Plagiarism:     Please attend to the following excerpt from the Dalhousie Calendar :

Dalhousie University defines plagiarism as the presentation of the work of another author in such a way as to give one's reader reason to think it to be one's own. Plagiarism is a form of academic fraud.

Plagiarism is considered a serious academic offence which may lead to the assignment of a failing grade, suspension or expulsion from the University, or even the withdrawal of a degree previously awarded. Some examples of plagiarism are:

* the use of a paper purchased from a commercial research corporation or prepared by any person other than the individual claiming to be the author;

* copying, without giving credit to the author, from another's published or non-published works, another's computer codes/programmes, another's artistic or architectural works, another's scientific project, including material found on the internet;

The University attaches great importance to the contribution of original thought to learning and scholarship. It attaches equal importance to the appropriate acknowledgement of sources from which facts and opinions have been obtained.

The proper use of footnotes and other methods of acknowledgement vary from one field of study to another. Failure to cite sources as required in the particular field of study in the preparation of essays, term papers and dissertations or theses may, in some cases, be considered to be plagiarism.

Students who are in any doubt about how to acknowledge sources should discuss the matter in advance with the faculty members for whom they are preparing assignments. In many academic departments, written statements on matters of this kind are made available as a matter of routine or can be obtained on request.

          Plagiarism is a serious academic offence and will be dealt with severely in this course. "Severely" means severely. If I find evidence of plagiarism or other academic dishonesty on any of your papers, I am required by the University to report it to the Senate Discipline Committee, and I will do so. If that happens, I will not be allowed to discuss the matter with you, and you will not receive a mark for the work in question until after the evidence has been reviewed by a hearing of the Committee, to which you will be invited and given the chance to respond to the allegations.

The Class:      There will be weekly reading-assignments. You should bring your text to class and be prepared to discuss the material covered. Short, weekly writing-assignments (see "Evaluation") will be due on Monday of each week (unless otherwise indicated).

Weekly          Each weekly assignment will pertain to the readings for week in which the

Assignments:  assignment is due. For graduate students I shall count the best eight. For undergraduates I shall count the best four to eight, depending on class attendance, according to the following formula:

If you miss three consecutive classes, that will further increase the number of assignments required by 1 (to a maximum of 8). At least two of the assignments to be counted must be completed by February 28.

OSAA Syllabus Statement on Accommodation:

Students may request accommodation as a result of barriers related to disability, religious obligation, or any characteristic under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act. Students who require academic accommodation for either classroom participation or the writing of tests, quizzes and exams should make their request to the Office of Student Accessibility & Accommodation (OSAA) prior to or at the outset of each academic term (with the exception of X/Y courses). Please see <www.studentaccessibility.dal.ca> for more information and to obtain Form A: Request for Accommodation.

A note taker may be required to assist a classmate. There is an honorarium of $75/course/term. If you are interested, please contact OSAA at 494-2836 for more information.

Please note that your classroom may contain specialized accessible furniture and equipment. It is important that these items remain in the classroom so that students who require their usage will be able to participate in the class.

Troubles?       If you are having problems with the course, please see me.

Tentative Schedule of Readings and Assignments

(Subject to Change)

#=photocopy/PDF on the BLS site

*=electronic journal Killam Library

%=other electronic versions

January 10     Introduction

           Reading:           Fay, Chapter 1, "Do You Have to Be One to Know One?"

January 17     Atomism vs. Holism

           Readings:         *J. W. N. Watkins, "Methodological Individualism ," The British Journal for the

Philosophy of Science 3, no.10 (1952): 186-189.

            Fay Chapter 2, "Do We Need Others to Be Ourselves?"

                      #Emile Durkheim, "Social Facts"

Fay Chapter 3, "Does Our Culture or Society Make Us What We Are?"

Recommended:

#Taylor, "Atomism"

January 24     Conceptual Schemes and Rationality

           Readings:         *Davidson, "On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme ," Proceedings and

                                               Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 47 (1973): 5-20

OR The Essential Davidson (Oxford: Clarendon, 2006), 196-208.

 Fay, Chapter 4, "Do People in Different Cultures Live in Different Worlds?"

 Fay, Chapter 5, "Must We Assume Others Are Rational?"

Recommended:

#Hacking, "Language, Truth and Reason";

*Davidson, "Actions, Reasons, and Causes ," Journal of

Philosophy 60, no.23 (1963): 685-700;

#Hymers, Philosophy and Its Epistemic Neuroses, Chapter 5

January 31     Understanding and Critique

Readings:        #MacIntyre, "Is Understanding Religion Compatible with Believing?"

           *Winch, "Understanding a Primitive Society ," American Philosophical

Quarterly 1, no.4 (1964): 307-324.

             Fay, Chapter 6, "Must We Comprehend Others in Their Own Terms?"

Recommended:

*MacIntyre, "The Idea of a Social Science ," Proceedings of

the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume 41 (1967):95-114;

#Hacking, "The End of Captain Cook";

*Taylor, "Interpretation and the Sciences of Man ,"

The Review of Metaphysics 25, no.1 (1971): 3-51;

#Taylor "Understanding and Ethnocentricity"

February 7      Nomological Explanations

Readings:          *Hempel, "The Function of General Laws in History ," The Journal of

Philosophy 39, no.2 (1942): 35-48.

             *Lee McIntyre, "Complexity and Social Scientific Laws ," Synthese 97, no.2

(1993): 209-227.

                           Fay, Chapter 8, "Is Our Understanding of Others Essentially Historical?"

Recommended:

*Davidson, "Psychology as Philosophy " in Essays on Actions

and Events (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 229-244.

February 14    Functional Explanation

           Readings:         #G. A. Cohen, "Functional Explanation in Marxism"

                       #Jon Elster, "Functional Explanation: In Social Science"

           %Marx and Engels, The German Ideology , "Preface," "First Premises of the

Materialist Method," "History: Fundamental Conditions," "Civil Society and the Conception of History," "Ruling Class and Ruling Ideas"

                                   #Marx and Engels, Various short excerpts

February 28    Meaning and Narrative

           Readings:         %Collingwood, "Human Nature and Human History ," 204-217

               Fay, Chapter 7, "Is the Meaning of Others' Behavior What They Mean by It?"

   Fay, Chapter 9, "Do We Live Stories or Just Tell Them?"

Recommended:

#MacIntyre, After Virtue, Chapter 15;

#Mink, "Narrative Form as a Cognitive Instrument"

March 7          Objectivity

           Readings:         #Taylor, "Social Theory as Practice"

                                   #Rorty, "Science as Solidarity"

                         Fay, Chapter 10, "Can We Understand Others Objectively?"

Recommended:

*Rorty, "Method, Social Science, and Social Hope ,"

Canadian Journal of Philosophy 11 (1981): 569-88.

March 14        Feminist Social Science

           Readings:         #Longino, "Subjects, Power and Knowledge"

                                  %Wylie, "Reasoning about Ourselves"

                       #Harding, "How Standpoint Methodology Informs Philosophy of Social

Science" in The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Social Sciences, edited by Stephen P. Turner and Paul A. Roth (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003).

March 21        Sociology of Knowledge

           Readings:         #Hacking, "Too Many Metaphors"

                                   #Steve Fuller, "Science & Technology Studies and the Philosophy of Social

Sciences" in The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Social Sciences, edited by Stephen P. Turner and Paul A. Roth (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003).

Recommended:

#Barnes and Bloor, "Relativism, Rationalism and the

Sociology of Knowledge";

#Hacking, "Why Ask What?";

#Hacking, "Madness: Biological or Constructed?";

#Hymers, Philosophy and Its Epistemic Neuroses, Chapter 6

March 28        Wittgenstein

           Readings:         #Wittgenstein, "Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough"

           #Stern, "The Practical Turn" in The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of

Social Sciences, edited by Stephen P. Turner and Paul A. Roth (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003).

Recommended:

*Bloor, "Wittgenstein and the priority of practice " in Schatzki

et al. (eds.), The Practice Turn in Contemporary Theory (London and New York: Routledge, 2001), 95-106;

#Trigg, "Wittgenstein and Social Science" in Wittgenstein

Centenary Essays, edited by A. Phillips Griffiths (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991);

*Winch, "Understanding a Primitive Society ," American

Philosophical Quarterly 1, no.4 (1964): 307-324;

#Hymers, Wittgenstein and the Practice of Philosophy, 74-89

April    4          Foucault

           Readings:          #Foucault, "The Body of the Condemned"

#Foucault, "Two Lectures"

                                    #Foucault, "Truth and Power"

Recommended:

*Taylor, "Foucault on Freedom and Truth ," Political Theory

12, no.2 (1984): 152-183;

#Barry Allen, Truth in Philosophy, Chapter 8;

*Rorty, "Method, Social Science, and Social Hope ,"

Canadian Journal of Philosophy 11 (1981): 569-88;

#Hymers, Philosophy and Its Epistemic Neuroses, 127-133 .