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The Content of Social Explanation

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Content of Social Explanation
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Susan James
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:204
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 140
Category/GenreSocial and political philosophy
ISBN/Barcode 9780521103527
ClassificationsDewey:149
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 11 December 2008
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

This is a study of the central questions of explanation in the social sciences, and a defence of 'holism' against 'individualism'. In the first half of the book Susan James sets out very clearly the philosophical background to this controversy. She locates its source not at the analytical level at which most of the debate is usually conducted but at a more fundamental, moral level, in different conceptions of the human individual. In the second half of the book she examines critically three case studies of holistic approaches - Althusser, Poulantzas and the Annales historians - and progressively refines our sense of the strengths and deficiencies of their programmes. She ends by arguing for a form of concessive holism, which offers some accommodation to liberal conceptions of individual autonomy but continues to emphasise the explanatory importance of social regularities and environments.