Karl Popper Y Las Ciencias Sociales

karl POPPER

William A. Gorton

and the SOCIAL SCIENCES

W I L L I A M A . G O RTO N

KARL POPPER and the SOCIAL SCIENCES

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

Published by

State University of New York Press
Albany © 2006 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoeverwithout written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY12210-2384 Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Michael Campochiaro Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gorton, William A., 1966– Karl Popper and the social sciences / William A. Gorton. p. cm. -- (SUNY series in the philosophy of the social sciences) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-10: 0-7914-6661-2 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7914-6662-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Popper,Karl Raimund, Sir, 1902– 2. Social sciences--Methodology. 3. Social sciences--Philosophy. 4. Political science. 5. Economics. I. Title. II. Series. H61.G593 2006 300'.92--dc22 2005007691 ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-6661-2 (alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-6662-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction Chapter One Popperian Situational Analysis

ixxi 1 5
6 11 15 21

Building Models Against Psychologism and Conspiracy Theories Methodological Individualism Summary

Chapter Two Metaphysics, Realism, and Situational Analysis
The Vienna Circle’s Positivism Verificationism, Empiricism, and Metaphysics Popper’s Metaphysical and Scientific Realism Realism, World 3, and Social Inquiry Summary

23
24 25 29 32 40

Chapter Three Social Laws,the Unity of Scientific Method, and Situational Analysis
Causation, Covering Laws, and Realism The Unity of Scientific Method Falsification and Situational Analysis Summary

41
41 52 53 58

Chapter Four Situational Analysis and Economic Theory
Rationality and Economic Theory
vii

59
62

viii

CONTENTS

Situational Analysis and Economic Theory Explaining Voter Turnout: RationalChoice versus Situational Analysis Untangling Complex Patterns of Interaction Summary

65 72 76 79

Chapter Five

Popper’s Debt to Marx

81
82 90 94 98

Popper’s Critique of Marx Popper’s Debt to Marx Popper and the Analytical Marxists Summary

Chapter Six The Shortcomings of Situational Analysis
The Limited Range of Situational Analysis Irrationality and Situational Analysis Elster’sModel of Revolutions Summary

99
100 103 113 119

Conclusion Notes References Index

121 123 133 141

Abbreviations

Throughout this book I use the following abbreviations in references to Popper’s work: LScD to stand for The Logic of Scientific Discovery, PH for The Poverty of Historicism, OSE I and OSE II for volumes I and II of the The Open Society and Its Enemies, UQ for UnendedQuest, PS for Popper Selections, OK for Objective Knowledge, CR for Conjectures and Refutations, SIB for The Self and Its Brain, RAS for Realism and the Aim of Science, OU for The Open Universe, ISBW for In Search of a Better World, MF for The Myth of Framework, KMBP for Knowledge and the Mind-Body Problem, ALIPS for All Life is Problem Solving, and LTC for Lessons of This Century.

xiIntroduction

Karl Popper is arguably the most influential philosopher of natural science of the twentieth century. Although his influence on academic philosophers is perhaps not as great as that of several other philosophers of science, Popper’s impact on working scientists remains second to none. When asked to reflect on the method of science, contemporary scientists, if they do not directly...