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Preface to the Second Edition | |
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Introduction to the First Edition | |
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Philosophy and the Social Sciences | |
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A Philosophical Toolkit | |
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Politics and Political Philosophy | |
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The Book and Its Arguments | |
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How to Read the Book | |
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Empiricism and Positivism in Science | |
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Introduction | |
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Empiricism and the Theory of Knowledge | |
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Positivism and Sociology | |
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Further Reading | |
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Some Problems of Empiricism and Positivism | |
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Introduction: Two Ways to Criticize Positivism | |
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Some Problems of Empiricism | |
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Further Problems of Positivism | |
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Further Reading | |
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Science, Nature and Society: Some Alternatives to Empiricism | |
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Marxism and Science | |
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Weber, Merton and the Sociology of Science | |
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Historical Epistemology and Structural Marxism | |
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Revolutions and Relativism: From Kuhn to the 'Strong Programme' | |
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Gender and Science: The Feminist Vision | |
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The Reflexive Turn: 'Constructing' Nature and Society | |
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Conclusion | |
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Further Reading | |
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Post-script | |
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Interpretive Approaches 1: Instrumental Rationality | |
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Weber's Discussion of the Objects of the Social Sciences | |
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Weber's Methodology: Understanding and Ideal Types | |
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Weber on Objectivity and Value Freedom | |
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Phenomenology: A Philosophical Foundation for Instrumental Rationality | |
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Instrumental Variations I: Rational Choice Theory | |
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Instrumental Variations II: Pragmatism and Symbolic Interactionism | |
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Reasons and Causes | |
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Individualism, Holism and Functional Explanation | |
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Conclusion | |
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Further Reading | |
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Post-script | |
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Interpretive Approaches 2: Rationality as Rule-Following: Cultures, Traditions and Hermeneutics | |
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Introduction | |
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Peter Winch: Philosophy and Social Science | |
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Language, Games and Rules | |
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Understanding Other Societies | |
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What Can We Do with Winch? | |
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Alisdair MacIntyre: Narratives and Communities | |
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Hermeneutics: Hans-Georg Gadamar | |
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Conclusion | |
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Further Reading | |
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Post-script | |
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Interpretive Approaches 3: Critical Rationality | |
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Introduction: Hegel, Marx and the Dialectic | |
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The Dialectic of the Enlightenment | |
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Ideology | |
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Habermas: The Possibility of an Emancipatory Science | |
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Critical Theory and the Linguistic Turn | |
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Conclusion | |
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Further Reading | |
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Post-script | |
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Critical Realism and the Social Sciences | |
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Introduction | |
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Realism and Natural Science | |
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Experiments, Laws and Mechanisms | |
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Reality as Stratified | |
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Stratification, Emergence and Reduction | |
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Reality as Differentiated: Closed and Open Systems | |
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Realism and Social Science | |
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Critical Realism and Human Emancipation | |
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Further Reading | |
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Post-script | |
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Feminism, Knowledge and Society | |
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Introduction: Objectivity and Cultural Diversity | |
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Feminist Politics and Social Knowledge | |
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Feminism and Epistemology | |
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Debating the Feminist Standpoint | |
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Post-modern Feminism | |
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Further Reading | |
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Post-script | |
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Post-structuralism and Post-modernism | |
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Introduction | |
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Post-structuralism: The Move to the Signifier | |
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Foucault: The Construction of the Subject | |
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Derrida and Deconstruction | |
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Post-modernism: Losing Philosophy | |
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The Politics of Post-structuralism and Post-modernism | |
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What Do We Do with the Posts? | |
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Further Reading | |
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Post-script | |
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Conclusion: In Defence of Philosophy | |
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Commentary on Recent Developments | |
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Peter Winch and Hermeneutics | |
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Meaning, Action and Explanation | |
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Understanding Other Cultures and Criticizing One's Own | |
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'Limiting notions', Human Nature and Social Science Naturalism | |
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Post-Marxism and Post-Structuralism | |
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Critical Realism and Social Science | |
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Personal Conclusions | |
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Obituary for Professor Ian Craib (1945-2002) | |
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Glossary | |
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Bibliography | |
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Index | |