Western Philosophy of Social Science
Summer 2005
Peking University
Professor Daniel Little
University of Michigan-Dearborn
Email: delittle@umd.umich.edu || webpage: www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~delittle/
Purpose and description
The philosophy of social science is a discipline that attempts to analyze the logic,
methodology, modes of explanation, and methods of inquiry of the social sciences. It is
based on the assumption that both philosophers and social scientists will benefit from a
better understanding of the conceptual and methodological issues that arise in the conduct
of social science research. One of the goals of the discipline is to allow us to come to
some judgments about the degree of validity and credibility that typical social science
theories have as assertions about the nature of the social world we experience.
My approach to the philosophy of social science is based on the idea that the discipline
should develop its theories and analyses by working closely with strong examples of
good social science research. Philosophy is sometimes seen as the apriori exploration of
a set of ideas or concepts. My approach asks that we abandon this aprioricity and
construct our discipline by learning from specific fields of social science research,
observing the achievements and obstacles that can be identified in the history of social
science, and then by reflecting philosophically on these issues and concepts. We should
frame the defining questions of the philosophy of social science by reflecting upon the
large conceptual and methodological issues that have actually been important to social
scientists as they conduct their research and theory construction.
Before we can create genuinely insightful social sciences, we need to fully confront the
important differences between social and natural phenomena. Individual agents are
different from atoms or molecules, social structures are different from physical structures
such as metals or crystals, and the inexact regularities of social life are different from
laws of nature. So social science explanations and social science theories will
unavoidably display corresponding differences from these constructs in the natural
sciences.
This lecture series is intended to introduce students to some of the topics that the author
has focused on in his studies of the social sciences. Not all philosophers approach the
subject matter in exactly this way. So these lectures are not intended to provide a broad
survey of the philosophy of social science by all western philosophers. Instead, these
lectures are designed to stimulate new questions for Chinese social scientists about the
logic and nature of the fields of social science research.
Other important contributions to the field of western philosophy of social science include
writings by Jon Elster, David Braybrooke, Alexander Rosenberg, Paul Roth, and Richard
Miller. Important contributions to analytical Marxism include writings by Gerald Cohen,
Jon Elster, Richard Miller, Adam Przeworski, and John Roemer. Bibliographies that
include citations to these works will be provided as course materials.
Outline of topics and readings
Lectures will be presented in the context of a powerpoint presentation on the day’s topic.
The presentation will be made available to the class before it is presented. Readings are
divided into “Core” readings that everyone should do, and “Extended” readings that
advanced students will wish to complete.
Class sessions will be organized in two-hour blocks. The first hour will be devoted to a
lecture presentation of the topic, and the second hour will be an organized discussion of
these ideas. In order to gain the best benefit possible in the discussion period, I will ask
groups of students to work together to formulate some questions. Then each group will
have a few minutes to present its questions for discussion by the professor and other
members of the class.
A. Explanation in the social sciences
Lecture 1. The philosophy of social science
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Why is philosophy relevant to the social sciences?
How should the philosophy of social science be pursued?
Explanation, objectivity, and empirical reasoning
Readings
Core: MMC: introduction; “Objectivity, Truth, and Method in Anthropology”.
Encyclopedia entries: “Philosophy of Social Science,” “Verification,” “Explanation,”
“Falsifiability”
Extended: VSE: chapter 1 (“Introduction”); MMC: chapter 9 (“Evidence and Objectivity
in the Social Sciences”)
Lecture 2. Causal explanation in the social sciences
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The theory of causation
Causal mechanisms and social generalizations
Readings
Core: MMC: chapter 10 (“Causal Explanation in the Social Sciences”); encyclopedia
entries “Scientific Realism,” “Causal Mechanisms”
Extended: VSE: chapter 2 (“Causal Analysis”); “Transport as a causal factor in history”
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Lecture 3. The theory of microfoundations
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Rational choice theory
Institutions, structures, and social outcomes
microfoundations
Readings
Core: VSE: chapter 3 (“Rational Choice Theory”); MMC: chapter 1 (“Microfoundations
of Marxism”)
Extended: VSE: chapter 5 (“Functional and Structural Explanation”); MMC: chapter 4
(“Rational-Choice Theory and Asian Studies”), chapter 5 (“Collective Action and the
Traditional Village”)
Lecture 4. Frameworks of the social sciences
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Naturalism as a meta-theory of social science
individualism, localism, holism, structuralism
Generalizations and laws
Micro, meso, and macro-levels
Readings
Core: VSE: chapter 9 (“Methodological Individualism”), chapter 11 (“Towards
Methodological Pluralism”)
Extended: MMC: chapter 12 (“On the Scope and Limits of Generalization in the Social
Sciences”); “Explaining Large-Scale Historical Change”; “Beyond Positivism: Toward a
Methodological Pluralism for the Social Sciences”
B. Analytical Marx Studies
Lecture 5. What is "Analytical Marxism"?
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Rational-choice Marxism
Western Marxism
Approaching Marx’s writings to discover their intellectual structure
Is there an ethical content to Marx’s thought?
Readings
Core: TSM: introduction, chapter 5 (“Explanation”); “Marxism and Method”
Extended: TSM: chapter 1 (“Naturalism and Capital”); “Rationality, ideology, and
morality in Marx’s social theory”
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Lecture 6. Historical materialism reconsidered
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What are the main assumptions of historical materialism?
Is this a cogent theory of history?
What is the logic of a materialist social explanation?
Readings
Core: TSM: chapter 2 (“Historical Materialism and Capital”)
Extended: VSE: chapter 6 (“Materialism”)
Lecture 7. Marx's Capital as a social science
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Does Marx have an economic theory?
Is Capital primarily a work of economics, sociology, or history?
Readings
Core: TSM: chapter 3 (“Marx’s Economic Analysis”)
Extended: TSM: chapter 6 (“Evidence and Justification”)
Lecture 8. Marx's theory of class and modern restatements

Is there a continuing role for Marx's theories in analyzing social and economic
history?
Readings: MMC: chapter 3 (“Marxism and Popular Politics”)
C. China Studies -- Theoretical frameworks in Asian studies
Lecture 9. The moral economy debate
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Rational choice and “peasant rationality”
The role of norms and popular values
Readings
Core: UPC: chapter 1 (“Preliminaries”), chapter 2 (“The Moral Economy Debate”)
Extended: “Mentalités, Identities, and Practices”; VSE: chapter 7 (“Economic
Anthropology”)
Lecture 10. Theories of rebellion: a case study of competing theoretical frameworks

Why did the great peasant rebellions of late Imperial China occur?
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Were there large historical factors that played a central causal role in these
rebellions?
How do theories of collective action, class politics, and religious movements
contribute to satisfactory explanations of these occurrences?
Readings: UPC: chapter 5 (“Theories of Peasant Rebellion”)
Lecture 11. Institutions, organizations, and knowledge systems
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Large factors as historical causes of social and economic development
Class, population, technology as theoretical models for historical explanation
Readings
Core: MMC: chapter 8 (“The High-Level Equilibrium Trap”); “Development Traps in
Traditional and Modern China”
Extended: MMC: chapter 7 (“The Brenner Debate”)
Lecture 12. Population, technology and economic change in China’s history

Stagnation, involution debate; high-level equilibrium trap
Readings
Core: UPC: chapter 4 (“The Breakthrough Debate”);
Extended: “Eurasian Historical Comparisons”; “New Perspectives on the Chinese Rural
Economy, 1885-1935”
D. Ethical issues in global economic development
Lecture 13. Human capabilities and freedom
Readings: PWP: chapter 1 (“Welfare, Well-being, and Needs”), chapter 2 (“What is
Economic Development?”)
Lecture 14. Distributive features of economic development
Readings: PWP: chapter 4 (“Justice”)
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Lecture 15. Environmental justice and democracy
Readings: PWP: chapter 7 (“Development and the Environment”), chapter 8
(“Democracy and Development”)
Lecture 16. Towards a global civil society
Readings: PWP: chapter 6 (“Aid, Trade, and the Global Economy”), conclusion
Texts
TSM
VSE
Daniel Little
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UPC
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MMC
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PWP
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The Scientific Marx
Varieties of Social Explanation:
An Introduction to the Philosophy
of Social Science
Understanding Peasant China:
Case Studies in the Philosophy of
Social Science
Microfoundations, Method and
Causation: On the Philosophy of
the Social Sciences
Paradox of Wealth and Poverty:
Mapping the Ethical Dilemmas of
Global Development
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University of Minnesota, 1986
Westview Press, 1991
Yale University Press, 1989
Transaction Publishers, 1998
Westview Press, 2003
Other materials:
Encyclopedia articles on the philosophy of social science
“Philosophy of Social Science”
“Causal Mechanisms”
“Verification”
“Falsifiability”
“Explanation”
“Scientific Realism”
Papers (published or presented):
“Eurasian Historical Comparisons”
“Explaining Large-Scale Historical Change”
“Objectivity, Truth, and Method in Anthropology”
“Beyond Positivism: Toward a Methodological Pluralism for the Social Sciences”
“Marxism and Method”
“Development Traps in Traditional and Modern China”
“New Perspectives on the Chinese Rural Economy, 1885-1935”
“Rationality, ideology, and morality in Marx’s social theory”
“Mentalités, Identities, and Practices”
“Transport as a causal factor in history”
Bibliographies
Presentations and manuscripts on related topics
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