Philosophy of the Social Sciences

3 credits · Undergraduate

(3 hrs Lecture) The course will be concerned with understanding the social sciences and psychology, with special emphasis on methodological issues. Possible topics are the following: theory construction in the human sciences, the influences of ideologies upon the methods and findings of these disciplines, the problem of objectivity, types of explanation, and the relation between explaining, predicting, and engineering human behaviour. Is it reasonable to look for laws of human behaviour on the basis of which we can engage in utopian social planning?