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Seminar: 09-M52-01-22-03-24 Philosophy of the Social Sciences - Details

Seminar: 09-M52-01-22-03-24 Philosophy of the Social Sciences - Details

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General information

Course name Seminar: 09-M52-01-22-03-24 Philosophy of the Social Sciences
Subtitle
Course number 09-M52-01-22-03-24
Semester WiSe 2025/2026
Current number of participants 4
Home institute Philosophie
Courses type Seminar in category Teaching
First date Tuesday, 14.10.2025 12:00 - 16:00, Room: FVG M2010
Type/Form
Englischsprachige Veranstaltung Nein

Rooms and times

FVG M2010
Tuesday: 12:00 - 16:00, fortnightly (5x)
Tuesday, 02.12.2025, Tuesday, 16.12.2025 12:00 - 16:00

Module assignments

Comment/Description

This course offers a critical and comparative introduction to the philosophy of the social sciences, examining both analytic and continental traditions, but with an emphasis on the continental tradition. Through readings from foundational and contemporary thinkers, students will explore core philosophical issues such as the nature of social concepts, theories, and research objects; the logic and methodologies of social inquiry; and the epistemological and ontological foundations of the social sciences. Topics include social construction, objectivity, rationality, explanation, prediction, and critique, as well as multicultural and feminist perspectives. The course culminates in a reading of Rahel Jaeggi’s Critique of Forms of Life (2018) [Kritik von Lebensformen, 2014], linking philosophical analysis to concepts and ideas usually dealt with in the social sciences, such as “forms of life”. Emphasis is placed on both theoretical understanding and the practical implications of philosophical frameworks for doing and interpreting social science. Individual sciences will also be examined philosophically (economics, history, sociology, psychology, anthropology).

Indicative Schedule (subject to change):
SESSION 1: General Introduction: What is the Philosophy of the Social Sciences? Continental and Analytic Approaches
SESSION 2: Concept; Theory; Social Research Objects; Conceptual Metaphors; Social Categories & Constructions; Society; The Concept of the Social; The Social Fact
SESSION 3: The Logic of the Social Sciences; Different Traditions (Rationalism-Empiricism, Hermeneutics, Genealogy, Critical Theory, Positivism, Constructionism, Naturalism, Interpretive Method, Falcificationism, Critical Realism, and Pragmatism Postmodernism); Social Ontology & Objectivity; Feminist Standpoint Perspectives
SESSION 4: A Philosophical Approach on the Methodologies of the Social Sciences: Explanation, Prediction and Heuristics; Epistemology of the Social Sciences
SESSION 5: Multicultural Approaches; Contemporary Approaches: Transdisciplinarity, Experimental Epistemology, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and the Relations between Philosophy and the Social Sciences; Individual Social Sciences
SESSION 6: Reading of Rachel Jaeggi’s Critique of Forms of Life (2018) [Kritik von Lebensformen, 2014]
SESSION 7: Reading of Rachel Jaeggi’s Critique of Forms of Life (2018) [Kritik von Lebensformen, 2014]
Teilnahmevoraussetzungen: None

Literatur:
Notes: This is an indicative list.
Extracts from the books needed for the course (for presentations or reading) will be shared with students in a digital form. A detailed syllabus will explain which readings are mandatory (1-2 short texts per session) and which are optional. Each student has to present at least one text from the readings.
The only book we will need to read in full until the end oft he course is Rahel Jaeggi’s On the Critique of Forms of Life [Kritik von Lebensformen]. The sessions on this book will take place at the end of January and students shall read as much of the book as they can until then (a digital form of the book will be provided for those that do not want to borrow or buy the book).

Abbot, A. 2004. Methods of Discovery. Heuristics for the Social Sciences. New York, London, W.W. Norton & Company.
Ásta. 2018. Categories We Live By. The Construction of Sex, Gender, Race, and Other Social Categories. Oxford University Press.
Benton, T. & Craib, I. 2011(2nd)/2001. Philosophy of Social Science. The Philosophical Foundations of Social Thought. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Bourdieu, P. 2004. Science of Science and Reflexivity. Oxford: Polity.
Delanty, G. & Strydom, P. (eds.) .2003. Philosophies of Social Science. The Classic and Contemporary Readings. Maidenhead; Philadelphia: Open University Press.
Hacking, I. 1999. The Social Construction of What? Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press.
Jaeggi, R. 2014. Kritik von Lebensformen. Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag.
Jaeggi, R. 2018. On the Critique of Forms of Life [Kritik von Lebensformen, 2014]. Trans. Ciaran Cronin. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press, Harvard University Press.
Johnson, M. and G. Lakoff. 2008/1980. Metaphors we live by. The University of Chicago Press.
Leiulfsrud, H. & Sohlberg, P. (eds.) 2016. Theory in Action. Theoretical Constructionism. Brill.
Leiulfsrud, H. & Sohlberg, P. (eds) 2021, Constructing Social Research Objects. Constructionism in Research Practice. Brill.
Leiulfsrud, H. & Sohlberg, P.(eds.) 2019. Concepts in Action. Conceptual Constructionism. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books.
Martin. M. & McIntyre. L. C. (eds.) 1994. Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science. Cambridge, Mass. The MIT Press.

Registration mode

After enrolment, participants will manually be selected.

Potential participants are given additional information before enroling to the course.