Abstract

GOMEZ AGUILAR, Iván Eliab. Social Science Philosophy: What For?. Rev. mex. cienc. polít. soc [online]. 2019, vol.64, n.236, pp.167-192. ISSN 0185-1918.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.2448492xe.2019.236.63526.

My aim is to show why the philosophy of the social sciences (PSS) is important for social science research. Firstly, I will identify the two obstacles that challenge the relevance of PSS in social science. On the one hand, I will take the case of social science in Mexico and point out a pitfall present there around their understanding of the central claim of the philosophy of science; then I will try to offer a solution to this misunderstanding. I discuss how philosophical claims better sum up the conditions to support epistemological assumptions in social science research. On the other hand, I will suggest that a second obstacle to recognizing the relevance of PSS is the self-sufficiency stance of social science concerning its epistemological assumptions. Finally, I will show three examples of PSS contributions to crucial debates in contemporary social science, namely, social causality, the role of interpretation, and scientific objectivity.

Keywords : philosophy of the social sciences; epistemology; causality; interpretation; scientific objectivity.