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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
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About this book
The demise of empiricist philosophies of science has contributed to the current disarray of philosophy in the social sciences. This book argues that a realist analysis of the structures and processes which make up the social world can provide a way out of its present impasse. These processes, ranging from the interpersonal negotiation of meaning to the constraining influence of administrative or market structures, cannot be understood as mere constructs either in the minds of the theorist or of the social factors themselves, since they actually generate the social world as we know it. The author develops some implications of this approach and presents a realist view of some of the principal theoretical traditions and controversies within sociology and other social sciences.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
WILLIAM OUTHWAITE is Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University, UK. His previous publications include Understanding Social Life (1975, 2nd edition 1986) and Concept Formation in Social Science (1983).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: New Philosophies of Social Science: Realism, Hermeneutics and Critical Theory
Authors: William Outhwaite
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18946-5
Publisher: Red Globe Press London
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies Collection, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: Macmillan Publishers Limited 1987
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 145
Additional Information: Previously published under the imprint Palgrave
Topics: Sociological Theory