Interpretive Social Science

Introduction

In this book Mark Bevir and Jason Blakely set out to make the most comprehensive case yet for an interpretive or hermeneutic approach to the social sciences.

Interpretive Approaches

Interpretive approaches are a major growth area in the social sciences today. This is because they offer a full-blown alternative to the behavioralism, institutionalism, rational choice, and other quasi-scientific approaches that dominate the study of human behavior.

Systematic Case and Critique

In addition to presenting a systematic case for interpretivism and a critique of scientism, Bevir and Blakely also propose their own uniquely anti-naturalist notion of an interpretive approach.

Anti-Naturalist Framework

This anti-naturalist framework encompasses the insights of philosophers ranging from Michel Foucault and Hans-Georg Gadamer to Charles Taylor and Ludwig Wittgenstein, while also resolving dilemmas that have plagued rival philosophical defenses of interpretivism.

Methods and Empirical Research

In addition, working social scientists are given detailed discussions of a distinctly interpretive approach to methods and empirical research.

Scope of the Book

The book draws on the latest social science to cover everything from concept formation and empirical inquiry to ethics, democratic theory, and public policy.

Paradigm Shift

An anti-naturalist approach to interpretive social science offers nothing short of a sweeping paradigm shift in the study of human beings and society.

Conclusion

This book will be of interest to all who seek a humanistic alternative to the scientism that overwhelms the study of human beings today.