This volume offers a new and distinct multicultural approach to the philosophy of social science. In providing
a complete introductory overview of the nature of social inquiry, Fay explores issues inherent in the study of
human beings from the perspective of cultural and social difference.
Among the important topics explored are: the self and its relation to others; culture and society; rationality
and intelligibility; relativism and objectivity; and the relation of history to social science.
Although the book appropriates insights from hermeneutics, poststructuralism, and critical theory, in addition
to the analytic philosophy of social science, it is written in a clear non-technical style. It provides the ideal
text for students in the philosophy of social science, for those engaged in social science, and for those interested
in multiculturalism.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.
Introduction: A Multicultural Approach to the Philosophy of Social Science.
1. Do You Have to be One to Know One?
2. Do we Need Others to be Ourselves?
3. Does our Culture or Society Make us What we Are?
4. Do People in Different Cultures Live in Different Worlds?
5. Must we Assume Others are Rational?
6. Must we Comprehend Others in Their Own Terms?
7. Is the Meaning of Others´ Behaviour What They Mean by It?
8. Is our Understanding of Others Essentially Historical?
9. Do we Live Stories or Just Tell Them?
10. Can We Understand Others Objectively?
11. Conclusion: What´s to be Learned From a Muticultural Philosophy of Social Science?
