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The Content of Social Explanation
Paperback / softback
Main Details
Title |
The Content of Social Explanation
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Authors and Contributors |
By (author) Susan James
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Physical Properties |
Format:Paperback / softback | Pages:204 | Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 140 |
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Category/Genre | Social and political philosophy |
ISBN/Barcode |
9780521103527
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Classifications | Dewey:149 |
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Audience | Professional & Vocational | |
Illustrations |
Worked examples or Exercises
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Publishing Details |
Publisher |
Cambridge University Press
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Imprint |
Cambridge University Press
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Publication Date |
11 December 2008 |
Publication Country |
United Kingdom
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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.
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