The Content of Social Explanation

By Susan James

Book Overview

This is a study of the central questions of explanation in the social sciences, and a defence of 'holism' against 'individualism'. In the first half of the book Susan James sets out very clearly the philosophical background to this controversy. She locates its source not at the analytical level at which most of the debate is usually conducted but at a more fundamental, moral level, in different conceptions of the human individual. In the second half of the book she examines critically three case studies of holistic approaches - Althusser, Poulantzas and the Annales historians - and progressively refines our sense of the strengths and deficiencies of their programmes. She ends by arguing for a form of concessive holism, which offers some accommodation to liberal conceptions of individual autonomy but continues to emphasise the explanatory importance of social regularities and environments.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521103525
• ISBN13: 9780521103527
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"