Julian Gordon

Philosophy of Science (Phil 2004)

ID#: 620039519

Question 2. Critically examine methodological individualism as a measure of social science. This essay seeks to define social science, give its history and state the problems that it has with gathering anthropological results. The introduction of methodological individualism to the discipline and its function will also be examined. Schools of thought on methodological individualism from philosophers Weber, Hayek, Popper and Elster will be discussed. Also, disadvantages using methodological individualism will be highlited. Social science is the study of human relationships in a society by use of the scientific method. It encompasses anthropology, economics, political science, psychology and sociology. Social science came about due to the Age of Reason in 1650. This was a time when intellect was beginning to be consulted instead of traditional explanations for phenomena. A lot of discoveries were made in natural science by use of the scientific method. The scientific method was set in such a way to give unbiased reasons in results. Sociologists saw the success of the use of the scientific method and decided to apply it to the study of humans. However, some problems occurred with the use of the scientific method in the social sciences. The scientific method has the tendency to generalize phenomena. This is applicable to natural law as it cannot be disobeyed eg, the law of gravity: Gravitation, or gravity, is a natural phenomenon by which all physical bodies attract each other. It is most commonly experienced as the agent that gives weight to objects with mass and causes them to fall to the ground when dropped. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitation). Humans on the other hand are spontaneous in behaviour and it is hard to generalize or predict what they will do. No law can direct human behaviour. This means that a different method which looks at the individual in his/her context is needed. This is where methodological individualism comes in. Methodological individualism is the study of social interaction by the examination of the motivations and actions of the individual before making predictions. It was introduced in late 19th century Vienna by economists such as Carl Menger, Eugen von Bhm-Bawerk and Friedrich von Wieser and used as a precept for the social sciences by Max Weber. According to Weber in Economy and Society, social entities such as business co operations and foundations are treated as individuals. Therefore it is said that the individual entity was successful or made losses. He then points out that the outcomes of this entity are as a result of the

Julian Gordon

Philosophy of Science (Phil 2004)

ID#: 620039519

component individuals. In other words, we cant understand large scale phenomena without knowing why people do what they do. He also supports the use of methodological individualism in human study because actions are driven by intentional states and these intentional states are characteristic of people. Therefore we would need to study the intentional state of each person. Friedrich Hayek states that the use of the scientific method in social sciences shows only correlation and not a cause effect relationship. This means that we know that certain phenomena in economics exists but we dont understand why it happens. He is of the view that theories of macro- economics are invalid without micro economic interpretations. Hayek also disregards rational action theory. This is because the outcomes of actions are not always what they were intended to be. Therefore, it is more important to find out what people thought rather than generalizing the actions of everybody. Lastly, people may do exactly what they intend but a macroeconomic explanation may not be fully correct. Take for example an increase in inflation. Macroeconomics would suggest that an increase in inflation would be the reason that there would be a decrease in customers. In reality, the individual customer does not consider inflation but the cost of the product and the amount of money he/she has. Karl Popper has a slightly different view on methodological individualism. Firstly, he views natural sciences and social sciences as similar to each other in that they give causal explanations. One might say that Popper would have defeated the purpose of methodological individualism as it is needed for interpretation. It would seem however that he took a metaphysical individualists view on the concept of society. This means that he would perceive society as non- existent and instead a set of individuals. The use of methodological individualism is still needed in this case. Like Weber and Hayek, he also stated that generalization only gave half- truths to interpretation of individuals. In the 1980s Game theory had emerged and was due to the realization that there were collective groups whose members had a common goal but failed. The use of methodological individualism in game theory was to examine individuals interaction towards each other. Jon Elster had used the same concept of game theory to critique Marxism. Karl Marx predicted that capitalism would be overthrown by communism with time. Yet today, capitalism still exists. Marx did not examine the possible dangers that the individual would face in demonstrations ect. Even if that individual

Julian Gordon

Philosophy of Science (Phil 2004)

ID#: 620039519

believes in communism, these dangers would restrain him/her from acting out. These individual actions could possibly explain the existence of capitalist countries. There are however, some criticisms to methodological individualism. Most macro- economic theories cannot be reduced to micro economic explanations. This would suggest that macroeconomics does not make any sense. In conclusion, methodological individualism is a good measure to be used in the social sciences. Firstly, it takes into consideration that humans are subjective and the same trigger at two different times may give two different reactions. Secondly, it takes into consideration that individual actions would have to be examined before generalizations can be made. When dealing with scientific phenomena, a cause effect relationship can be generated but when dealing with humans, motives for actions are of higher importance as they give better results.

Julian Gordon

Philosophy of Science (Phil 2004)

ID#: 620039519

Bibliography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_science
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_school http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/methodological-individualism/#1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodological_individualism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holism