The Disorder of Political Inquiry

The Disorder of Political Inquiry

Author: Keith Topper

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-07-01

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0674044401

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In the past several years two academic controversies have migrated from the classrooms and courtyards of college and university campuses to the front pages of national and international newspapers: Alan Sokal’s hoax, published in the journal Social Text, and the self-named movement, “Perestroika,” that recently emerged within the discipline of political science. Representing radically different analytical perspectives, these two incidents provoked wide controversy precisely because they brought into sharp relief a public crisis in the social sciences today, one that raises troubling questions about the relationship between science and political knowledge, and about the nature of objectivity, truth, and meaningful inquiry in the social sciences. In this provocative and timely book, Keith Topper investigates the key questions raised by these and other interventions in the “social science wars” and offers unique solutions to them. Engaging the work of thinkers such as Richard Rorty, Charles Taylor, Pierre Bourdieu, Roy Bhaskar, and Hannah Arendt, as well as recent literature in political science and the history and philosophy of science, Topper proposes a pluralist, normative, and broadly pragmatist conception of political inquiry, one that is analytically rigorous yet alive to the notorious vagaries, idiosyncrasies, and messy uncertainties of political life.


Book Synopsis The Disorder of Political Inquiry by : Keith Topper

Download or read book The Disorder of Political Inquiry written by Keith Topper and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past several years two academic controversies have migrated from the classrooms and courtyards of college and university campuses to the front pages of national and international newspapers: Alan Sokal’s hoax, published in the journal Social Text, and the self-named movement, “Perestroika,” that recently emerged within the discipline of political science. Representing radically different analytical perspectives, these two incidents provoked wide controversy precisely because they brought into sharp relief a public crisis in the social sciences today, one that raises troubling questions about the relationship between science and political knowledge, and about the nature of objectivity, truth, and meaningful inquiry in the social sciences. In this provocative and timely book, Keith Topper investigates the key questions raised by these and other interventions in the “social science wars” and offers unique solutions to them. Engaging the work of thinkers such as Richard Rorty, Charles Taylor, Pierre Bourdieu, Roy Bhaskar, and Hannah Arendt, as well as recent literature in political science and the history and philosophy of science, Topper proposes a pluralist, normative, and broadly pragmatist conception of political inquiry, one that is analytically rigorous yet alive to the notorious vagaries, idiosyncrasies, and messy uncertainties of political life.


Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness

Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness

Author: William Godwin

Publisher:

Published: 1798

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness by : William Godwin

Download or read book Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness written by William Godwin and published by . This book was released on 1798 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Idioms of Inquiry

Idioms of Inquiry

Author: Terence Ball

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1987-01-01

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780887064579

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Idioms of Inquiry reflects the most recent and creative thinking in the field of political theory. The contributors agree that the old orthodox political theory is no longer viable, arguing instead for a pluralism of approaches. Each takes a particular idiom of inquiry on its own terms and analyzes its plausibility and internal limitations. The idioms discussed cover the current leading theories: rational choice, Popperian situational analysis, hermeneutics, phenomenology, critical theory, feminism, Foucauldian deconstructionism, and metascientific realism.


Book Synopsis Idioms of Inquiry by : Terence Ball

Download or read book Idioms of Inquiry written by Terence Ball and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1987-01-01 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Idioms of Inquiry reflects the most recent and creative thinking in the field of political theory. The contributors agree that the old orthodox political theory is no longer viable, arguing instead for a pluralism of approaches. Each takes a particular idiom of inquiry on its own terms and analyzes its plausibility and internal limitations. The idioms discussed cover the current leading theories: rational choice, Popperian situational analysis, hermeneutics, phenomenology, critical theory, feminism, Foucauldian deconstructionism, and metascientific realism.


The Practical Import of Political Inquiry

The Practical Import of Political Inquiry

Author: Brian Caterino

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-06-19

Total Pages: 127

ISBN-13: 3319324438

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This book examines a basic problem in critical approaches to political and social inquiry: in what way is social inquiry animated by a practical intent? This practical intent is not external to inquiry as an add-on or a choice by the inquirer, but is inherent to the process of inquiry. The practical intent in inquiry derives from the connection between social inquiry and the participant’s perspective. The social inquirer, in order to grasp the sense of those who are the subject of inquiry, has to adopt the perspective of the participant in the social world. Caterino opposes the view that research is an autonomous activity distinct from or superior to a participant’s perspective. He argues that since the inquirer is on the same level as the participant, all inquiry should be considered mutual critique in which those who are addressed by inquiry have an equal right and an equal capacity to criticize addressors.


Book Synopsis The Practical Import of Political Inquiry by : Brian Caterino

Download or read book The Practical Import of Political Inquiry written by Brian Caterino and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-06-19 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines a basic problem in critical approaches to political and social inquiry: in what way is social inquiry animated by a practical intent? This practical intent is not external to inquiry as an add-on or a choice by the inquirer, but is inherent to the process of inquiry. The practical intent in inquiry derives from the connection between social inquiry and the participant’s perspective. The social inquirer, in order to grasp the sense of those who are the subject of inquiry, has to adopt the perspective of the participant in the social world. Caterino opposes the view that research is an autonomous activity distinct from or superior to a participant’s perspective. He argues that since the inquirer is on the same level as the participant, all inquiry should be considered mutual critique in which those who are addressed by inquiry have an equal right and an equal capacity to criticize addressors.


Hektor Ammann (1894-1967), investigador de la historia económica europea

Hektor Ammann (1894-1967), investigador de la historia económica europea

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1970

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9780131673045

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Download or read book Hektor Ammann (1894-1967), investigador de la historia económica europea written by and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Conventional Realism and Political Inquiry

Conventional Realism and Political Inquiry

Author: John G. Gunnell

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2020-02-10

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 022666127X

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When social scientists and social theorists turn to the work of philosophers for intellectual and practical authority, they typically assume that truth, reality, and meaning are to be found outside rather than within our conventional discursive practices. John G. Gunnell argues for conventional realism as a theory of social phenomena and an approach to the study of politics. Drawing on Wittgenstein’s critique of “mentalism” and traditional realism, Gunnell argues that everything we designate as “real” is rendered conventionally, which entails a rejection of the widely accepted distinction between what is natural and what is conventional. The terms “reality” and “world” have no meaning outside the contexts of specific claims and assumptions about what exists and how it behaves. And rather than a mysterious source and repository of prelinguistic meaning, the “mind” is simply our linguistic capacities. Taking readers through contemporary forms of mentalism and realism in both philosophy and American political science and theory, Gunnell also analyzes the philosophical challenges to these positions mounted by Wittgenstein and those who can be construed as his successors.


Book Synopsis Conventional Realism and Political Inquiry by : John G. Gunnell

Download or read book Conventional Realism and Political Inquiry written by John G. Gunnell and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-02-10 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When social scientists and social theorists turn to the work of philosophers for intellectual and practical authority, they typically assume that truth, reality, and meaning are to be found outside rather than within our conventional discursive practices. John G. Gunnell argues for conventional realism as a theory of social phenomena and an approach to the study of politics. Drawing on Wittgenstein’s critique of “mentalism” and traditional realism, Gunnell argues that everything we designate as “real” is rendered conventionally, which entails a rejection of the widely accepted distinction between what is natural and what is conventional. The terms “reality” and “world” have no meaning outside the contexts of specific claims and assumptions about what exists and how it behaves. And rather than a mysterious source and repository of prelinguistic meaning, the “mind” is simply our linguistic capacities. Taking readers through contemporary forms of mentalism and realism in both philosophy and American political science and theory, Gunnell also analyzes the philosophical challenges to these positions mounted by Wittgenstein and those who can be construed as his successors.


The Practical Import of Political Inquiry

The Practical Import of Political Inquiry

Author: Brian Caterino

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 2018-05-31

Total Pages: 117

ISBN-13: 9783319812861

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This book examines a basic problem in critical approaches to political and social inquiry: in what way is social inquiry animated by a practical intent? This practical intent is not external to inquiry as an add-on or a choice by the inquirer, but is inherent to the process of inquiry. The practical intent in inquiry derives from the connection between social inquiry and the participant’s perspective. The social inquirer, in order to grasp the sense of those who are the subject of inquiry, has to adopt the perspective of the participant in the social world. Caterino opposes the view that research is an autonomous activity distinct from or superior to a participant’s perspective. He argues that since the inquirer is on the same level as the participant, all inquiry should be considered mutual critique in which those who are addressed by inquiry have an equal right and an equal capacity to criticize addressors.


Book Synopsis The Practical Import of Political Inquiry by : Brian Caterino

Download or read book The Practical Import of Political Inquiry written by Brian Caterino and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2018-05-31 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines a basic problem in critical approaches to political and social inquiry: in what way is social inquiry animated by a practical intent? This practical intent is not external to inquiry as an add-on or a choice by the inquirer, but is inherent to the process of inquiry. The practical intent in inquiry derives from the connection between social inquiry and the participant’s perspective. The social inquirer, in order to grasp the sense of those who are the subject of inquiry, has to adopt the perspective of the participant in the social world. Caterino opposes the view that research is an autonomous activity distinct from or superior to a participant’s perspective. He argues that since the inquirer is on the same level as the participant, all inquiry should be considered mutual critique in which those who are addressed by inquiry have an equal right and an equal capacity to criticize addressors.


Comparative Political Inquiry

Comparative Political Inquiry

Author: Lawrence C. Mayer

Publisher:

Published: 1972

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Comparative Political Inquiry by : Lawrence C. Mayer

Download or read book Comparative Political Inquiry written by Lawrence C. Mayer and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations

The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations

Author: Patrick Thaddeus Jackson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-07-19

Total Pages: 665

ISBN-13: 1136912029

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This volume ws the winner of The International Studies Association Theory Section Book Award 2013, presented by the International Studies Association and The Yale H. Ferguson Award 2012, presented by International Studies Association-Northeast. There are many different scientifically valid ways to produce knowledge. The field of International Relations should pay closer attention to these methodological differences, and to their implications for concrete research on world politics. The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations provides an introduction to the philosophy of science issues and their implications for the study of global politics. The author draws attention to the problems caused by the misleading notion of a single unified scientific method, and proposes a framework that clarifies the variety of ways that IR scholars establish the authority and validity of their empirical claims. Jackson connects philosophical considerations with concrete issues of research design within neopositivist, critical realist, analyticist, and reflexive approaches to the study of world politics. Envisioning a pluralist science for a global IR field, this volume organizes the significant differences between methodological stances so as to promote internal consistency, public discussion, and worldly insight as the hallmarks of any scientific study of world politics. This important volume will be essential reading for all students and scholars of International Relations, Political Science and Philosophy of Science.


Book Synopsis The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations by : Patrick Thaddeus Jackson

Download or read book The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations written by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-07-19 with total page 665 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume ws the winner of The International Studies Association Theory Section Book Award 2013, presented by the International Studies Association and The Yale H. Ferguson Award 2012, presented by International Studies Association-Northeast. There are many different scientifically valid ways to produce knowledge. The field of International Relations should pay closer attention to these methodological differences, and to their implications for concrete research on world politics. The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations provides an introduction to the philosophy of science issues and their implications for the study of global politics. The author draws attention to the problems caused by the misleading notion of a single unified scientific method, and proposes a framework that clarifies the variety of ways that IR scholars establish the authority and validity of their empirical claims. Jackson connects philosophical considerations with concrete issues of research design within neopositivist, critical realist, analyticist, and reflexive approaches to the study of world politics. Envisioning a pluralist science for a global IR field, this volume organizes the significant differences between methodological stances so as to promote internal consistency, public discussion, and worldly insight as the hallmarks of any scientific study of world politics. This important volume will be essential reading for all students and scholars of International Relations, Political Science and Philosophy of Science.


Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease

Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease

Author: Kostas Kalimtzis

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2000-11-02

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0791492052

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This book explores Aristotle's theory of stasis, a word usually translated to mean "revolution," "civic disorder," or "sedition." It examines Aristotle's writings on stasis, especially Book 5 of the Politics, within the tradition established by ancient Greek poets, medical writers, philosophers, and orators, who held that the root sense of stasis was in fact nosos, or "disease." Aristotle's theory of the causes of stasis is presented in a cohesive manner, as factors that can account for political disease within the entire range of diverse constitutions. Aristotle is shown to have proceeded from the standpoint that the polis had to be cast in a mode of political friendship, what the Greeks called homonoia or "political friendship", and that when other standards for friendship such as wealth or liberty are practiced to an extreme, then the function of the polis may be "arrested." The telic functions of the polis are replaced by disordered "movements" whose paralyzing effect—as evidenced by transformations in values and language, and the pursuit of private-interest ends—is typical of a dysfunctional condition that often ends in senseless violence and civil war.


Book Synopsis Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease by : Kostas Kalimtzis

Download or read book Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease written by Kostas Kalimtzis and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2000-11-02 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores Aristotle's theory of stasis, a word usually translated to mean "revolution," "civic disorder," or "sedition." It examines Aristotle's writings on stasis, especially Book 5 of the Politics, within the tradition established by ancient Greek poets, medical writers, philosophers, and orators, who held that the root sense of stasis was in fact nosos, or "disease." Aristotle's theory of the causes of stasis is presented in a cohesive manner, as factors that can account for political disease within the entire range of diverse constitutions. Aristotle is shown to have proceeded from the standpoint that the polis had to be cast in a mode of political friendship, what the Greeks called homonoia or "political friendship", and that when other standards for friendship such as wealth or liberty are practiced to an extreme, then the function of the polis may be "arrested." The telic functions of the polis are replaced by disordered "movements" whose paralyzing effect—as evidenced by transformations in values and language, and the pursuit of private-interest ends—is typical of a dysfunctional condition that often ends in senseless violence and civil war.