module

Postgraduate Module Descriptor

SOCM002A: Philosophy of the Social Sciences 1

This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

• What is philosophy of social science?
• Social and institutional ontology: the nature and conditions of the social and cultural world
• Holism and individualism: the nature of collective action and collective responsibility
• Structure and agency: social determinism and individual agency
• Realism and social constructionism: the debate over reality and social construction (race, class, gender, sexuality, scientific knowledge)
• The Idea of a social science: the Wittgensteinian critique and its critics
• Does explanation and understanding excuse or justify?
• Social science, ethics and the fact-value distinction

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).