Philosophy of Social Science

Praise for Previous Editions
A model of clarity, scope, and analytical precision, this book is both a superb introductory text and a work of outstanding scholarship. Lee McIntyre, Boston University and the Harvard Extension School; coeditor of "Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science"
Ever since the first edition of Alexander Rosenberg s "Philosophy of Social Science" appeared in 1988, it has been indispensable for anyone teaching the subject . . . Each new edition has been still more indispensable as a teaching aid, but also as a source of new ideas and insights about changes in the philosophy of science and in the social sciences themselves. It is a very considerable achievement. Alan Ryan, Princeton University
"Philosophy of Social Science" is both a pedagogical masterpiece and a work of serious philosophical interest. Daniel M. Hausman, University of Wisconsin
This remarkably compact book maintains an admirably objective stance on contending views of many outstanding problems. There is no other book of its kind I can recommend so highly. Alan Nelson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"Philosophy of Social Science" provides a tightly argued yet accessible introduction to the philosophical foundations of the human sciences, including economics, anthropology, sociology, political science, psychology, history, and the disciplines emerging at the intersections of these subjects with biology.
The fifth edition retains from previous editions an illuminating interpretation of the enduring relations between the social sciences and philosophy, and reflects on developments in social research over the past two decades that have informed and renewed debate in the philosophy of social science. New material for this edition includes a revised chapter on European philosophy of social science, an expanded discussion of modern and postmodern critical theory, a fuller treatment of feminist philosophy of sciences, and an added discussion on the ethics of care.
Alexander Rosenberg is R. Taylor Cole Professor of Philosophy at Duke University. He is author of many books and papers in the philosophy of science, including "The Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Approach," "The Philosophy of Biology: A Contemporary Approach," and "EconomicsMathematical Politics or Science of Diminishing Returns" (winner of the prestigious Lakatos Prize). In 2007, he was the national Phi Beta Kappa Romanell lecturer in philosophy."