Continental Philosophy of Social Science

Yvonne Sherratt argues for the importance of an historical understanding of the continental traditional approach to social science in order to appreciate its individual, humanist character. Examining the key traditions of hermeneutic, genealogical and critical theory, and the texts of major thinkers such as Gadamer, Ricoeur, Derrida, Nietzsche, Foucault, the Early Frankfurt School and Habermas, she also contextualizes contemporary developments within strands of thought stemming back to Ancient Greece and Rome. Sherrat demonstrates how these modes of thinking developed through the ages to become part of twentieth-century disciplines.

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This ambitious and wide-ranging book asks what recent continental philosophy can contribute to our understanding of the social sciences. Yvonne Sherratt argues that continental thought since the late nineteenth century offers a distinctive way of reflecting on social science. She sets out to explain what is unique about the continental approach, to distinguish its main strands, and to show that it is a promising alternative to Anglo-American work in the field. Sherratt's subject is important, and a discussion of it is long overdue....We should be glad that someone has written a book on continental philosophy of social science. The figures Sherratt discusses have a great deal to teach us about the social sciences. Her book will provide a valuable service if it provokes further discussion of this important but neglected topic. Sherratt also identifies a promising way of thinking about this topic. The notion of humanism is a helpful frame for making sense of continental philosophy of social science, and for explaining what is distinctive about it. --Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2006.09.08

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Product details

• Date Published: October 2005
• format: Hardback
• isbn: 9780521854696
• length: 254 pages

• dimensions: 229 x 152 x 17 mm
• weight: 0.54kg
• availability: Available