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Dr Kate Vredenburgh

This course is available on the BSc in Economic History and Geography, BSc in International Relations, BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and BSc in Politics and Philosophy. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

No formal pre-requisites, but PH103 The Big Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy or equivalent is recommended.

This course examines philosophical problems of social science concerning what societies are like and how scientists theorize about them. The first part of the course will focus on questions of scientific method about the nature of understanding and the kind of knowledge the social sciences should, or can, aim for; as well as on questions of ontology pertaining to the nature of the social world. The overarching goal is to provide an intellectual geography of the philosophy of the social sciences, to which students will refer in the second part of the course when specific philosophical issues will be closely analysed and discussed. Contents to be covered in the second term will be structured around three main themes: action, rationality and intelligibility; institutions, culture, and the relationship between mind and society; and the moral aims of the social sciences, as well as their role in just social change.

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT.

This year, some or all of this teaching will take place online.

Students will be expected to write one formative essay in Michaelmas term. Class presentations or weekly activities may also be required, depending on the pedagogical approach of the class teacher.

A detailed reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course. Indicative readings include: Nancy Cartwright and Elinora Montuschi (eds.), Philosophy of the Social Sciences: a new introduction); Harold Kincard, John Dupré, and Alison Wylie (eds.), Value-Free Science: Ideals and Illusions; Jon Elster, Explaining Social Behaviour; John H. Miller and Scott Page, Complex Adaptive Systems; Dawn Langan Teele, Field Experiments and Their Critics: Essays on the Uses and Abuses of Experimentation in the Social Sciences; Alex Rosenberg, Philosophy of Social Science (Fifth edition); Harold Kincaid, Philosophical Foundations of the Social Sciences; Daniel Steel and Francesco Guala (eds.), The Philosophy of Social Science Reader; Michael Martin and Lee McIntyre (eds.), Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science.

Exam (40%, duration: 3 hours).
Essay (25%, 2000 words), essay (25%, 2000 words) and presentation (10%) in the MT and LT.

Summative assessment for PH203 will consist of two essays, two presentations, and an exam.

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.