Individualism in Social Science: Forms and Limits of a Methodology

Erscheinungsjahr 1992
ISBN: 978-0-19-824279-6
Verlag: OXFORD UNIV PR

Buch, Englisch, 280 Seiten, Format (B × H): 146 mm x 222 mm, Gewicht: 499 g

Reihe: Oxford Philosophical Monograph

The literature on methodological individualism is characterized by a widely held view that if the doctrine were stated with sufficient care it would be seen to be trivially true. Professor Bhargava questions this view. He begins by carefully disentangling the various formulations of the doctrine, identifies its most plausible version, and finally locates the principal assumption underlying it, namely that beliefs are attitudes individuated entirely in terms of what
lies within the individual mind. Bhargava argues that once this individualist assumption is challenged it is possible to rehabilitate a non-individualist methodology which permits a contextual study of beliefs and actions, and even a study of social context relatively independent of the beliefs and
actions of individuals.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bhargava, Rajeev

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction; Part 1. Methodological individualism; Forms of methodological individualism; Part 2. The limits of explanatory individualism; Methodological individualism as a form of reductionism; Methodological individualism and the D-N model; Methodological individualism: intentionalism; Part 3. The limits of ontological individualism; The social dimension of meaning; The non-individualist challenge: contextualism