Syllabus

Title

5716 Logic and Methodology of Social Sciences

Instructors

Dr. Stefan Josko Riegelnik, ao.Univ.Prof. Dr. Gabriele Mras

Contact details

gabriele.mras@wu.ac.at; stefan.riegelnik@wu.ac.at; maximilian.margreiter@wu.ac.at

Type

VUE

Weekly hours

Language of instruction

Englisch

Registration

02/21/22 to 02/24/22
Registration via LPIS

Notes to the course

Subject(s) Bachelor Programs

Logic and Methodology of Social Sciences

Dates

Day	Date	Time	Room
Monday	03/07/22	02:30 PM - 04:00 PM	TC.0.01 ERSTE
Monday	03/14/22	01:00 PM - 03:30 PM	Online-Einheit
Monday	03/21/22	01:00 PM - 03:30 PM	Online-Einheit
Monday	03/28/22	01:00 PM - 03:30 PM	TC.0.10 Audimax
Monday	04/04/22	01:00 PM - 03:30 PM	TC.0.10 Audimax
Monday	04/25/22	06:00 PM - 08:00 PM	Online-Einheit
Thursday	04/28/22	03:30 PM - 04:30 PM	Online-Einheit
Tuesday	05/03/22	02:30 PM - 04:30 PM	TC.4.03
Tuesday	05/10/22	02:30 PM - 04:30 PM	TC.4.03
Tuesday	05/17/22	02:30 PM - 04:30 PM	TC.4.03
Tuesday	05/24/22	02:30 PM - 04:30 PM	TC.4.03

On this page:

Contact details
Contents
Learning outcomes
Attendance requirements
Teaching/learning method(s)
Assessment
Prerequisites for participation and waiting lists
Recommended previous knowledge and skills
Availability of lecturer(s)
Other
Readings
Unit details
ECTS Points — Work Load

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Contents

This is an introductory course into the philosophy of science and the philosophy of the social sciences. It deals with questions concerning

* the aims of scientific inquiries,

* the differences between science and non-science,

* the potential validity of reasoning based on empirical data in distinction to deductive reasoning, and

* the presuppositions of all empirical inquiries.

The questions we will pursue are

- questions in the philosophy of science and the history of the philosophy of science,

- epistemological and

- metaphysical or ontological questions.

In order to answer these questions we will look into the beginning of philosophical reasoning from Antiquity to the Middle Ages to the “Scientific Revolution”. What are early views of “demonstration” of empirical investigations (Aristotle, Francis Bacon)? We will then focus on the scepticism concerning the foundations of such methods (David Hume), and Immanuel Kant's dissolution of these doubts in his „Copernican Turn“.

Toward the end of this course we’ll have a brief look into the rise of the idea of “social sciences” in the 19th century (J. St. Mill, William Whewell, Auguste Comte) and the development of a "new mathematical" logic by Gottlob Frege and George Boole. Then we will focus on the most influential methodological views in the 20th century based on this "mathematical" logic: Logical Empiricism and Critical Rationalism and Critical Theory.

(Part A) The philosophy of science

The lecture part of this course consists of 5 lectures:

0. Introduction: 7th March 2022

1. Scientific Reasoning in Antiquity: 14th March 2022

2. Scholasticism and the Scientific Revolution: 21st March 2022

3. Induction and the Presuppositions of all Empirical Observation: 28th March 2022

4. "Theories of Confirmation" and the development of a new, mathematical logic: 4th April 2022

5. Overview and Repetition: 25th April 2022 ONLINE via LEARN 18:00-20:00

The fifth lecture is a Q&A session! There is NO attendance requirement for part A. The lectures take place in HS TC.0.01 and in the Audi Max in TC. Fort part B please go to the link (we do not have enough space here for part B).

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Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes in general

(i) to develop an appreciation for the scientific enterprise as such, to become familiar with the history of methodological thinking,

(ii) to develop the deductive and analytical skills needed in scientific reasoning to enhance the ability to approach questions in the empirical sciences by raising questions about the adequate methods, and

(iii) to gain knowledge of the debates about the potential difference between natural and social sciences

The learning outcomes in particular of part (A) are

(i) to gain knowledge on the history of methodological thinking,

(ii) to construe premises and valid conclusions in deductive syllogistic arguments,

(iii) to be able to identify the specific character of inductive arguments,

(iv) to understand the limitations concerning the possibility of justifying the results of empirical inquiries, and

(v) to apply various methods of empirical reasoning in the light of these limitations

Part (B):

(vi) to understand the difference in the ontological status of the social sciences, and

(vii) to become familiar with various views about the goal of the social sciences.

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Attendance requirements

The course is divided into a lecture part (part A) and a “Übung” (part B).

For part A (lectures) of this course, there is NO attendance requirement. The last session in part A will be a Q&A session.

Between part A and part B the multiple choice exam will take place.

Part B (Übung) requires 100% attendance (sessions on the 3rd May, 10th May, 17th May, 24th May)

For more information about the lecture and the Übung of this course, please look at course content.

The Final Exam will be held online via LEARN: 28th April 15:30-16:30.

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Teaching/learning method(s)

Lecture part (A)

There is a lecture-manuscript as text in Learn, slides and multiple choice and SC questions with automated feedback. To make sure that we all are "on board", there are weekly assignments, and weekly MC/SC tests (don't worry there is really enough time), (plenty of) literature (primary and secondary) is made available in Learn,

Übungs part (B)

Reading of papers, analysis, discussion of conclusions, questions and/or problems; world-café.

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Assessment

Please study the requirements and the assessment information carefully

1. Final MC/SC-test: 30 questions (30 minutes): Max. points: 80. 20 points have to be reached in order for this part to count as positive.

2. Weekly assignments: 3 weekly assignments — 5 questions, max. 3 points for every question (depending on the sub-questions), 15 max points for every assignment. In total, for 5 x 3 assignments = 45 points. Points are given on an all or nothing principle (2/3 or 0). + 4 (!) MC/SC tests, every test = 5 points, total 20 points. Points are given on an all or nothing principle: 0 - 60% = 0 points, 61 - 100 % = 5 points. 3 MC tests have to be turned in/have to be positive for this part to count as positive (15 points minimum).

Please understand that I cannot comment every individual of the 260 assignments. In case of a negative assignment, please contact me by email or consult me in my online office hours (during part A).

4. contribution in discussion sessions + short group presentation and short paper (groups of max 10).

5. Short paper/handout (55 points), deadline: May 24, 23:55. (30 points have to be reached in order for this assessment part to count as positive)

*+ points: answering questions of your colleagues in the “foren”: max 5 points (1 point for raising a question, 2,5 points for answering a question of a colleague of yours).

The final MC test has to be positive.

Points in total: 200

182 - 200: very good (1)

162 - 180: good (2)

140 - 160: satisfactory (3)

110 - 138: sufficient (4)

below 110: fail (5)

180, 5 181, 181, 5 points will be treated as „in-between“-grades (as 160, 5 etc.) with the possibility to get a higher grade by adding points from your contribution to “foren”- discussions (e.g. answering questions of your colleagues in the “foren”: see above. So if you had in total 181,5 points and if you had answered 1 questions in the foren, you would receive a 1 as final grade.

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Prerequisites for participation and waiting lists

Progress in your studies.

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Readings

Title:

The lecture text in Learn-WU

Content relevant for class examination: Yes
Recommendation: Essential reading for all students

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Recommended previous knowledge and skills

Knowledge in critical thinking, logic and philosophy is welcomed but not required.

You might feel not really familiar with the level of generality needed in thinking about “logic and methodology” at first — just give it a while to “sink in”.

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Availability of lecturer(s)

For all questions and problems concerning Learn and the structure of the course please only contact: Maximilian Margreiter: maximilian.margreiter@wu.ac.at

E-mail: gabriele.mras@wu.ac.at, stefan.riegelnik@wu.ac.at

Phone: 31336-4257

In the office hours: D4, 3rd floor or via Zoom (Thursday: 8:00-9:00)

You might also contact Ms. Bettina Gerdenich: bettina.gerdenich@wu.ac.at

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Other

Please make yourself familiar with LearnWU:

What is the lecture part (A), What is UE part (B): see description in the syllabus: "course-content" + description of single sessions. What is the attendance requirement for the lecture part (A), What is the attendance requirement for UE part (B): see description in the syllabus "attendance requirement" for lecture part (a) and UE part (B).

Where are the"To Dos"(Assignments/MC tests), when are the deadlines? see Learn "Assignments"

What is the max. group-size for the assignments? assignments are individual for part A! 10 for part B presentations . If you don't tell us your preferences (i.e. with whom you want to be together), we will put you in a group (unless you explicitly want to work on your own, if so, please contact us by email).

How can I answer the "To Dos"(Assignments): see Learn "Part A, PhilOfScience Lecture Texts 1-5" (should be enough), there are also slides ... and certainly the "recommended literature" (uploaded).

How much of the literature has to be read in oder to be able to answer the assignment-questions? The idea (and my hope) is that the lecture texts + slides + the strongly recommended readings are really enough to understand the topics and enough to be able to answer the assignments and the MC test.

It is not expected that you study all the uploaded literature. The additional literature is mainly secondary literature and chosen because of its value for further study. Please, do not "google around"(sometimes WIKIPEDIA for example is very good, sometimes it is too superficial, and sometimes is its just not correct at all).

How can I get help for the weekly MC Test? see "Part A, PhilOfScience Lecture Texts 1-5" there are Part A MC questions with automated feedback. ... ATTENTION: After the deadlines no MC TEST/assignment will be accepted.

What are the assessment criteria? Information about assessment criteria, etc can be found in Learn/the syllabus.

How will the final MC/SC test be organized? The Final Exam will be held online via LEARN: 28th April 15:30-16:30. It will be supervised by WU ZID and you have to give us your consent ... for video supervision etc you must not forget to verify your ID days before the exam etc.. (We will send an info email 1 week before). In case of proven internet connection problems, there will be a 2nd date for the exam.

What if you miss the MC Test in April? — There will be a 2nd date for this Test: in the last week of June (DistanceLearning will inform us, but not before the middle of May). BUT: we need an official confirmation, why, if, you cannot attend it!

What about grades, points etc... ? see "assessment criteria". Information about assessment criteria, etc can be found in Learn/the syllabus. Discussion about the sum of the points for weekly assignments + MC tests + final MC test + the short paper presentation at the end of this course only.

MC tests: above 60% = 100%, weekly assignments: 3 of 5 questions have to be positive for 15 points, if not 0 points. Information about assignments deficiencies per email only (please write me an email).

Whom can I ask, if I have questions, problems ... ? Me, my colleague from the UZH, Dr. Stefan Riegelnik + my colleague from WU, Maximilian Margreiter.

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ECTS Points — Work Load

This course has 6 ECTS points.

The workload for this course is therefore ca. 150 hours. If one substracts 30 hours for the preparation for the 1/2 hour MC exam (I don’t think that you will need that much time, however), there are 120 hours left.

This means that you should reserve roughly 90 hours as workload for the part A (exam preparation excluded) for listening to the audios, reading the lecture-texts, and the literature, answering the weekly assignments of part A; so roughly 15 hours per week (the course will end by the end of May).

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Unit details

Unit	Date	Contents
1	7.03	Our first meeting is one where questions concerning the organization of this course as well as questions concerning your course contributions are discussed (where you can find x in Learn, where to upload the assignments, how they are graded, what the MC exam will be like … ). I in addition will give a brief overview of the structure and the purpose of this course. I hope to see — but there is a very rich syllabus, too (in case you cannot come).
2	14. 03.2022:	1. “Scientific Reasoning in Antiquity: Aristotle‘s Logic, the Stoa, and the School of Baghdad“ (Lecture) Required Readings: Lecture-text in LearnWU Recommended Readings: Aristotle: Prior Analytics; in: Striker G. (ed.): Aristotle Prior Analytics, Book I, Oxford: Clarendon Press 2009, p. 1-65. Aristotle: The Beginnings of Logic, Topics, Posterior Analytics; in: Copi Irving M. / Gould James A. (eds.): Readings on Logic; MacMillan Publishing Company, New York 1972, p. 8-16. Lukasiewicz, J.: Elements of the system and theses of the system; in: Aristotle´s Syllogistic from the standpoint of modern formal logic, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1951, p. 1-42. McKirahan, R.: Philoponus On Aristotle Posterior Analytics 1.9-18, Londoen: Bloomsbury 2012, p. 80-83. Additional: Adamson, P.: Interpreting Avicenna Critical Essays, Cambridge: University Press 2013. Geach, P.T.: Definition; in: Reason and Argument, Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press 1976, p. 38-46. Fisher, Alec: Appendix. Elementary formal logic; in: The logic of real arguments, Cambridge University Press 1988, p. 140-149. Rovelli, C.: Aristotle's Physics: a Physicist's Look, 2014, p. 1-11. Read, S.: Aristotle's Theory of the Assertoric Syllogism, 2017, p. 1-26. Aristotle's Syllogistic, p. 1-9. Info: Aristotle and Plato in: "History of Ideas"
3	21.03.2022: 13:00-15:30	2. „The Middle Ages and the ‚Scientific Revolution‘ — Scholasticism and the search for a method in the empirical sciences“ (Lecture) Required Readings: Lecture-text in LearnWU Recommended Readings: Bacon, F.: Preface, XXXIX-XLV, XV, SVI and XVII; IXX, XXI, XXXVI, LXXI and pages; in: The New Organon; Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press 2000. Merchant, C.: The Violence of Impediments - Francis Bacon and the Origins of Experimentation, in: Critiques and Contentions, University of Chicago Press 2017, p. 731-760. Additional: Shapin, S.: Epistemological Decorum: The Practical Management of Factual Testimony; in: A Social History of Truth. Civility and Science in Seventeeth-Century England; Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press 1994, p. 193-242. Newton, I.: The motion of bodies; in: The Principia Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, Oakland, California: University of California Press 1999, p. 79-89. Info: Biography Galileo Galilei Bacon, Kepler, Kopernikus and Galileo Galilei in: "History of Ideas" Observing Facts in: "Question about the objectivity observation and its reliability"
4	28. 03.2022: 13:00-15:30	3. The „problem of induction“ and its significance for methodological questions. Some thoughts about Kant‘s solution of „Hume‘s problem“ + some comments about J.St. Mill‘s conclusions from „Hume‘s problem“. (Lecture) Required Readings: Lecture-text in LearnWU Recommended Readings: Hume, D.: Sceptical Doubts concerning the Operations of the Understanding; in: Hume, D.: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding; LA Salle (Illinois) 1990. p. 71-83. Kant, I.: Introduction; in: Critique of Pure Reason, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922, p.1-12. Warburton, N.: René Descartes Meditations; in: Philosophy the Classics, London, New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 51-61. Additional: Seigel, J.: Dejection, insight, and self-making: Coleridge and Mill ; in: The Idea of the Self Thought and Experience in Western Europe since the Seventeenth Century, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2009, p. 427-468. Info: Hume and Kant in: "History of Ideas"
5	04.04.2022: 13:00-15:30	4. „Theories of confirmation in the 20^th century and the question of the reducibility of the social sciences to other empirical sciences“ (Lecture) Lecture-text in LearnWU Recommended Readings: Carnap, R.: What is Logical Analysis of Science? in: Hanfling, O. (ed.): Essential Readings in Logical Positivism; Oxford 1981, p. 112-129. Popper, K.: The Logic of Scientific Discovery; London-New York 2004, p. 3-34, p.54-56, p. 57-73, p. 76-85, p. 88-94, p. 264-275. Additional: Delanty, G; Strydom, P. (eds.): Philosophies of Social Science. The Classic and Contemporary Readings, Chap. 2., 6. und 14.; Maidenhead, Philadelphia: Open University Press 2003. Hahn, H.; Carnap, R.; Neurath, O.: The Scientific Conception of the World: The Vienna Circle; in: Sarkar, S. (Ed.): The Emergence of Logical Empiricism: from 1900 to the Vienna Circle; New York: Garland Publishing 1996, p. 321-340. Info: Carnap and Popper in: "History of Ideas"
6	25.04.2022: 18:00-20:00	Overview and Repetition: Don‘t forget — this session will be online!
7	28.04.2022: 15:30-16:30	MC test for part A — online (!) exam with video supervision. Yes, it is an online exam — we wanted to be on „the safe side“. If you cannot take part, we need an official justification why not. There will be a second date for the MC test in the last week of June (DistanceLearning will inform us when exactly in late May — as soon as we know we will post it here).
8	03.05.2022:	On the very idea of social sciences - Application Questions On the very idea of social sciences Required Readings: Rosenberg, Alexander: What is the Philosophy of Social Science?; in: Philosophy of Social Science, Colorado: Westview Press 1995, pages: 9, 10, 13-17, 22-24. Kincaid, Harold: Causes, confirmation, and explanation; in: Philosophical Foundations of the Social Sciences, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1996, chapter 3.2.1. Kincaid, Harold: Philosophical foundations of the social sciences. Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1. Salmon, Wesley: Causality and Explanation. Oxford University Press, chapters 2.2. and 2.3. Additional Readings: Searle, John: The Construction of Social Reality, Free Press 1995.
9	10.05.2022	On the ontological status of social entities Required Readings: Searle, John: The Construction of Social Reality, Free Press 1995. Searle, John: Social ontology. Some basic principles; in: Anthropological Theory. 2006;6(1):12-29. Hoover, Kevin: Microfoundations and the ontology of macroeconomics, in: The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Economics, pages 386-390. Background Readings: McIntyre, L.C.: Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science, Cambridge: MIT Press 1994. Montuschi, E.: Introduction: Objectivity, Science and Social Science; Economic Objects; in: The Objects of Social Science, London: Continuum 2003, chapter 1.2 and. 1.4. Cartwright, N.; Montuschi, E.: Ontological Issues; in: Philosophy of Social Science. A New Introduction, Oxford: OUP 2014, p. 85-144. Gerring, J.: Causation; in: Social Science Methodology. A Unified Framework, Cambridge: CUP 2012, p. 197-255. Brodbeck, May: Readings in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences. Delanty, G; Strydom, P. (eds.): Philosophies of Social Science. The Classic and Contemporary Readings, Chap. 33., 34., 35. und 36. Maidenhead: Open UP 2003.
10	17.05.2022:	Critical theory and the positivism dispute – A brief history and introduction. Required Readings: Geuss, Raymond: The Idea of a critical theory. Cambridge University Press. 1981, pages 55-63, Popper, Karl: The Logic of the social sciences; in: Positivist Dispute in German Sociology; London: Heinemann Educational Publishers 1975: Pages 89, 98, 101-103. Adorno, Theodor W.: Philosophical Elements of a Theory of Society 1964, Cambridge: Polity Press 2019, 89-11
11	24.05.2022:	Paper/handout presentation in form of a “world café” Paper topics will be assigned by e-mail!! Topics are: The idea of a social science (cf. Rosenberg) Laws and cause in the social sciences (cf. Kincaid, Rosenberg) The ontology of the social (cf. Searle) Positivism dispute from the point of view of Popper (cf. Popper) Positivism dispute from the point of view of Adorno and Horkheimer (cf. Adorno/Horkheimer) On the very idea of a critical theory (cf. Geuss) ... We are looking forward to your presentations!

Last edited: 2022-06-09

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