Human Sciences- Scope

• What is the area of knowledge about?

• What practical problems can be solved through applying this knowledge?

• What makes this area of knowledge important?

• What are the current open questions in this area?

• Are there ethical considerations that limit the scope of inquiry?

Natural Sciences v Human Sciences

The proper study of mankind is man

- Alexander Pope

The Scientific Method

Traditional Model: Inductivism

1 Observation

2 Hypothesis

3 Experiment

4 Law

5 Theory

Scientific experiments

A good experiment should have the following features:-

• controllability• measurability• repeatability

1. Observation

Questions

In favour Opposed

1 Do you think there should be an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting abortions, or shouldn’t there be such an amendment?

29% 67%

2 Do you believe there should be an amendment to the Constitution protecting the life of the unborn child, or shouldn’t there be such an amendment?

50% 34%

The Observer Effect

2. Hypothesis

3. Experiment

Experiments: controllability

Freakonomics

Where Have All The Criminals Gone?

- innovative policing strategies - increased reliance on prisons- changes in crack and other drug markets- aging of the population- tougher gun-control laws- strong economy- increased number of police- all other explanations (increased use of capital

punishment, concealed weapons laws, gun buybacks, and others)

Experiments: measurability

Experiments: repeatability

4. Law

I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of crowds

- Isaac Newton

The Law of Large Numbers

Laws and Trends

A Phillips Curve

5. Theory

Anyone interested in the history of ideas would be puzzled by the following striking differences between advances in biology and advances in psychology. The progress of biology has been characterized by landmark discoveries, each of which resulted in a breakthrough in understanding- the discoveries of cells, Mendel’s law of heredity, chromosomes, mutations, DNA and the genetic code. Psychology on the other hand, has been characterized by an embarrassingly long sequence of ‘theories’, each really nothing more than a passing fad that rarely outlived the person who proposed it.

- V S Ramachandran and J J Smythies

The Verstehen Position

The main aim of the human sciences is to understand the meaning of various social practices from the inside as they are understood by the agents themselves.

WOKs

Memory Sense Perception Language Reason Emotion Intuition Imagination Faith

Knowledge Questions

Linking Questions