Summary
Summary Winch - The Idea of a Social Science
- Institution
- Oxford University (OX)
Notes on Winch's 'The Idea of a Social Science'
[Show more]
3 reviews
By: harsumeetkaur • 4 year ago
By: rinabang7 • 7 year ago
By: lucasvandyck • 7 year ago
Content preview
Peter Winch - The Idea of a Social ScienceChapter Two - The Nature of Meaningful Behaviour
Philosophy and Sociology
● there is a distinction between peripheral branches of philosophy and epistemology
○ philosophy of science, art, history etc is concerned with the particular
nature of those forms of life
○ epistemology is concerned with what is involved in the notion of a form
of life as such
■ Wittgenstein’s concept of following a rule and its
corollary form of interpersonal agreement are contributions to this debate
■ this debate is played out in the social sciences: should
sociology synthesise all social studies, or be one among many?
● The central problem of sociology - giving an account of social phenomena - belongs to
epistemology, though it has been misconstrued as a scientific problem
● Often the crucial ingredient of sociology - language - is barely touched upon
○ the notion of having a language, and things such as meaning are often
taken for granted
○ in fact categories of meaning are logically dependent for their sense on
social interaction between men
■ ‘it is only by virtue of their possession of concepts that
they are able to make generalizations at all’
Meaningful Behaviour
● Forms of interactions that have meaning or symbolic character all depend on following a
rule, as in language
● People usually perform actions for reasons, whether explicit or implicit
○ a necessary condition of a reason constituting a reason for an action (i.e.
forming part of an explanation) is that the concepts involved in the reason make sense to
the agent
● Sometimes people behave without having reasons for doing so
○ e.g. habit - a person may understand what they are doing, and hence is
actually casting a vote, but does not have a reason: he simply does it because his father
did
● An act that looks like exchange is only economic if it has a sense, if the agents ‘carry
with them..a regulation of their future behaviour’
○ placing a slip of paper between pages is only using a bookmark if it is
done with the idea of using the slip to determine where to start reading later
○ we can only be committed in the future if our acts are the application of
a rule
● So it only makes sense to say that N votes if:
○ the political institutions of his society allow for voting
○ N is familiar with those institutions, and the symbolic act of voting
■ thus N applies a rule in a context in which application is
possible
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller patrickfleming. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £3.99. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
66579 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 14 years now