OVERVIEW

The course aims to provide the students with the epistemological tools for the analysis and critical understanding of social sciences.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to provide the tools to know and understand the fundamental phases of evolution of scientific reflection, the discussion on logic and scientific method, the application of the general principles of epistemological and methodological analysis to specific problems of social Sciences .

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course specifically aims to provide students with interdisciplinary competences regarding philosophical and methodological knowledge. To pursue this goal, the students will have to

• master the basics of philosophy of science and
• understand the specificity of diverse social sciences.

A special attention will be devoted to the common aspects of social sciences, as well as their specificities, thus focusing on such disciplines as sociology, economics, and anthropology. Students will also learn

• the historical development of these topics and
• the continuity of common epistemological problems.

Students will be encouraged to develop a critical approach towards natural and social sciences with a view to appreciating both sciences’ objectivity and their diversity.

TEACHING METHODS

The first two parts of the course will consist of lectures. The attending students will have the opportunity of presenting and discussing part of the course material in seminars.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course will investigate the debate concerning the epistemological specificity of social sciences. In the first part, the main authors and themes in the philosophy of science will be introduced. In the second part, we will focus on the issue of whether the standards of hard sciences may be applied to social sciences. Besides the debate on the specificity of social sciences, we will also analyze common issues such as the social construction of science, the relation between power and science, the issue of reductionism and the problem of social facts. The last part of the course will be devoted to seminars. Students who attend the course will have the opportunity to address such problems as the specificity of economics, the possibility of experiments in social sciences, the social construction of gender and sexual identities, and the epistemological status of anthropological method.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reading list for the attending students:

- T. Benton, I. Craib, Filosofia della scienza sociale. I fondamenti filosofici del pensiero sociale, (Torino: UTET, 2010). Capp: 1-5, 7, 10

One within the following list:

-E. Durkheim, Le regole del metodo sociologico (Milano: Edizioni di Comunità)

-E. Durkheim, Il suicidio: studio di sociologia (Milano: Rizzoli)

-M. Weber, Il metodo delle scienze sociali (Milano: Edizioni di Comunità)

- Kuhn, La struttura delle rivoluzioni scientifiche (Torino: Einaudi)

-Istituto per la Ricerca Sociale di Francoforte, Lezioni di sociologia, a cura di M. Horkheimer, Th.W. Adorno (Torino: Einaudi)

-K. Popper, Congetture e confutazioni: lo sviluppo della conoscenza scientifica (Bologna: il Mulino), cap. 1, 3, 10, 11, 16

- Searle, La costituzione della realtà sociale (Torino: Einaudi), cap. 1-6

Non attending students will also have to read one within the following list:

• F. Guala, Filosofia dell’economia, cap. 2-6 (Bologna: il Mulino)
• L. Bernini, Le teorie queer, cap. 2-3 (Milano: Mimesis)
• M. Motterlini, F. Guala, Mente Mercati Decisioni cap. 6-9
• V. Matera, Raccontare gli Altri, cap. 2-3 (text available in Vincenzo Matera's page in Academia.edu) e V. Matera, Antropologia contemporanea cap. 2 (Roma-Bari: Laterza)

Introductory books to epistemology

• Okasha, Il primo libro di filosofia della scienza (Torino: Einaudi)
• M.C. Galavotti, R. Campaner, Filosofia della scienza (Egea: Milano)

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

FEDERICO ZUOLO (President)

VALERIA OTTONELLI

MARIA SILVIA VACCAREZZA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

19 Februrary 2019

Class schedule

PHILOSOPHY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral examination

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The final evaluation will also take into account the seminars and the students’ participation in class.  

Exam schedule