Dr Mattia Gallotti

This course is available on the MSc in Economics and Philosophy, MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy, MSc in Philosophy of Science and MSc in Philosophy of the Social Sciences. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course examines philosophical problems of social science concerning the nature of social facts and social scientific theory. The first part of the course will focus on traditional questions of scientific method about the nature of understanding and the kind of knowledge the social sciences should, or can, aim for; as well as on questions of ontology pertaining to the nature of the social world and the classic dispute about 'what there is' in society. The overarching goal is to provide an intellectual geography of the philosophy of the social sicences, to which students will refer in the second part of the course when specific philosophical issues will be closely analysed and discussed. Contents to be covered in the second term will be structured around three main themes: action, rationality and intelligibility; the relationship between mind and society; the scope, aim and prospects of critical and normative approaches to social science theory and practice.

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the LT.

Students will be expected to write three essays: two in Michaelmas term and one in Lent term.  

A detailed reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course. Indicative readings include: Alex Rosenberg, Philosophy of Social Science (Fifth edition); Harold Kincaid, Philosophical Foundations of the Social Sciences; Daniel Steel and Francesco Guala (eds.), The Philosophy of Social Science Reader; Michael Martin and Lee McIntyre (eds.), Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science.

Exam (67%, duration: 2 hours) in the summer exam period.
Essay (33%, 2000 words) in the LT.