Module EDUC2191: Philosophy of Social Science

Department: Education

EDUC2191: Philosophy of Social Science

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• to nurture a sophisticated understanding of the nature and distinctive procedures of the social sciences, and of some of the chief movements and schools of thought in this discipline, particularly as it has developed during the twentieth century;
• to introduce students to some of the central philosophical problems in the social sciences, and to ways in which these problems may be addressed;
• to examine how social science has come to repudiate identification with ‘hard science’.

Content

• the claims of insider epistemology
• understanding the cultures and perspectives of others
• the idea of the self
• social science as a ‘science’?
• interpretivism and explanation
• rational and irrational behaviour
• problematising ‘mental illness’
• sociobiology: the question of the extent to which eg ADHD or criminality might be ‘in the genes’
• life as narrative and story
• multiculturalism: social science and cultural and social difference.

Learning Outcomes

• knowledge of many of the problems and issues that exercise social scientists, both as a matter of theory and practice, and an understanding of philosophical perspectives on them;
• understanding of key social science terms, e.g. methodological individualism, holism, perspectivism.

• ability to think through and develop their own stance as a social scientist
• ability to reflect on the different philosophical perspectives used to explain key concepts within the social sciences
• use skills of argumentation as a means of discussing ideas within the domain social sciences

• communicate ideas, principles and theories effectively in written form
• manage time and work to deadlines
• construct and sustain a reasoned argument
• evaluate and make use of information from a variety of primary and secondary sources.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Interactive lectures and seminars, including those in which students are responsible in turn for introducing topics; courses of guided reading, starting from an appropriate reading list, coupled with submission of essays for discussion with their tutor and feedback both oral and in writing allow the introduction and development of the central themes in this module.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

1 essay in the term (2000 words); no collections.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University