ABSTRACT

Social science is a social activity as well as a method of discovery. The researchers’ values and politics colour their work and so do their choices of scientific method. This book is about both – the technical effects of values and the political effects of technique. The author reports what social scientists and historians actually do. He sorts out the scientific from the political content in a wide range of old and new work in history, sociology, political science and economics. The overall work is a detailed political and technical criticism of the ‘scientistic’ programme which would have researchers select for such qualities as objectivity, uniformity, and generality, cumulation and professional unanimity.

part I|158 pages

Use

chapter 1|20 pages

Why Men Act

chapter 2|29 pages

For Example

Why did Chamberlain Change his Mind?

chapter 3|21 pages

Why Histories Happen

chapter 4|68 pages

For Example

What Caused Imperialism?

chapter 5|18 pages

A Model of a Moralizing Science

part II|111 pages

Truth

chapter 6|35 pages

Scientific Selection of Causes

chapter 7|25 pages

Scientific Knowledge of Causes

chapter 8|17 pages

Understanding

chapter 9|32 pages

The Imagination of Effects

part III|161 pages

Truth in Use

chapter 10|66 pages

Social Cohesion, Conflict and Change

chapter 11|24 pages

Political Economy

chapter 12|27 pages

Values in Practice and Theory

chapter 13|34 pages

A Summary of Themes

chapter 14|6 pages

A Political Science of Society