In his latest post, PTJ moves us past the worst critiques of "rational choice theory" and focuses on a few more nuanced concerns.1 I'm glad to see the conversation progressing, and this type of exchange is one of the things I love most about academic blogging....
I already mentioned that this podcast was coming, but now it is out. From my summary at New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy: When I agreed to host New Books and Science Fiction and Fantasy...
As readers might have surmised, a number of the bloggers at the Duck are into the philosophy and history of science. PTJ has written an exceptional book on the philosophy of science in the context...
Because not everyone reads comment threads, in part because of the way that people engage with The Duck via RSS readers, and because think the questions involved are really important ones, I'm going...
From Department of OmnishamblesMore good stuff where this came from (via Jairus Grove).
[The following essay, posted here in three parts over several days, was solicited by and is cross-posted at e-ir. Read part one here. Thanks to Aaron McKeil for editorial input and html formatting assistance.] III. The Task of Translation In the preceding discussion I have assumed, albeit tacitly, that contradictory statements emanating from different communities of practice and different traditions of inquiry are translatable into one another’s terms.[6] Translation is required for contradiction to have any sense or meaning: “objects fall to the ground when dropped” is contradicted by...
[The following essay, to be posted here in three parts over several days, was solicited by and is cross-posted at e-ir. Part one appeared here. Thanks to Aaron McKeil for editorial input and html formatting assistance.] II. The Appearance of ContradictionFrom this brief example we can draw a few lessons. 1) When confronted by two apparently contradictory statements, first try to ascertain whether the statements are in fact contradictory, or whether they are actually saying two different things.2) If the statements are actually contradictory, use...
[The following essay, to be posted here in three parts over the next several days, was solicited by and is cross-posted at e-ir. Thanks to Aaron McKeil for editorial input and html formatting assistance.]The dominant methodological position in the field of IR—neopositivism[1]—has almost certainly attained its dominance as a result of sociological factors, particularly the role that its emphasis on covering-law explanations and the practical activity of hypothesis-testing using sophisticated techniques of cross-case comparison plays in legitimating IR as a science within the United States....
Krugman:In short, there’s no reason at all to consider microeconomics the “real” economics and macroeconomics some kind of flaky impostor. Yes, micro is a lot more rigorous — but if it’s rigorously wrong, who cares?
An abortive comment on Phil Arena's "Rat Choice Apologetics IV" led me to a quick wikipedia check of "positivism." I often do this sort of thing, just as a kind of gut check when I want to be precise about terms. Turns out the article has a number of real problems. They culminate in the discussion of "modern positivism," from which I now quote:However, positivism (understood as the use of scientific methods for studying society) remains the dominant approach to both research and theory construction in contemporary sociology, especially in the United States.The majority of articles published...
Here's a quick heads-up about something that will be concluding here -- and over at The Disorder of Things -- in a couple of weeks:"This is the third in a series of posts by several of us at The Disorder Of Things on Patrick Thaddeus Jackson‘s The Conduct Of Inquiry in International Relations: Philosophy of Science and Its Implications for the Study of World Politics. Paul started things off with his post setting up Jackson’s methodology of politics in order to ask important questions about the politics of Jackson’s methodology. Joe continued with his post and a discussion of the...
Dear American Anthropological Association:According to recent reports, you are considering dropping the term "science" from your long-range planning document. You propose replacing it with the phrase "public understanding," and also including a long litany of the variety of things that fit under this umbrella:This includes, but is not limited to, archaeological, biological, social, cultural, economic, political, historical, medical, visual, and linguistic anthropological research. The Association also commits itself to further the professional interests of anthropologists, including the...