Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Philosophyofscience
Philosophyofscience
Introduction
• The social sciences seek to conduct a science of
phenomena that have no mass.
• Idealism:
• Observations and interpretations reflect the
subjectivity of the society.
• Interpretations can be used to promote
advocacy.
• Scientists are bound by “verstehen.”
An Example
An Example
Structure-Functionalism
• The Adaptation is the production of food.
• The Goals are multiple, with “feed the world” as
the one being given priority.
• The appeal to Integration is that “together” we will
achieve our goal.
• As a nation with vast resources, we have a moral
obligation (Latent function) to “feed the world.”
An Example
Marxian/Critical
• This poster represents an attempt by powerful
agribusiness firms to create a “false
consciousness” among consumers that their true
purpose is to feed the world.
• Instead, these powerful actors seek to distract us
from their exploitation of the environment, animals,
and our health and well-being so as to maximize
their profits.