About the Book
Issues important to the philosophy of social science are widely discussed in the American academy today. Some social scientists resist the very idea of a debate on general issues. They continue to focus on behaviorist and positivist criteria, and the concepts, methods, and theories appropriate to a particular and narrow form of scientific inquiry. McCarthy argues that a new and valuable perspective may be gained on these questions through a return to philosophical debates surrounding the origins and development of nineteenth- and twentieth-century German sociology. In Objectivity and the Silence of Reason he focuses on two key figures, Max Weber and Jurrgen Habermas, reopening the vibrant and rich intellectual dispute about knowledge and truth in epistemology and concept formation, logic of analysis, and methodology in the social sciences. He uses this debate to explore the forms of objectivity in everyday experience and science, and the relations between science, ethics, and politics.
McCarthy analyzes the tension in Weber's work between his early methodological writings with their emphasis on interpretive science, subjective intentionality, cultural and historical meaning and the later works that emphasize issues of explanatory science, natural causality, social prediction, and nomological law. While arguing for a value-free science, Weber was highly critical of the disenchanted and meaningless world of technical reason and rejected positivist objectivity. McCarthy shows how Habermas attempted to resolve tensions in Weber's work by clarifying the relationship between the methods of subjective interpretation and objective causality. Habermas believes that social science cannot be silent in the face of alienation, false consciousness, and the oppression of technological and administrative rationality and must adopt methodologies connected to the broader ethical and political questions of the day.
Drawing deeply on the Kantian and neo-Kantian tradition that contributed to the development of Weber's method, Objectivity and the Silence of Reason demonstrates the crucial integration of philosophy and sociology in German intellectual culture. It elucidates the complexities of the development of modern social science. The book will be of interest to sociologists, philosophers, and intellectual historians.
Table of Contents:
Part 1: Methodological Disputes in the Nineteenth Century: Neo-Kantianism, Existentialism, and the German Historical School 1. Neo-Kantian Epistemology and the Construction of Historical Objectivity: Kant and Rickert, 2. Kantian Existentialism and the Warring Gods of Modernity: From Schopenhauer to Nietzsche 3. Max Weber and the Kantians: Epistemology and Method in the Wissenschaftslehre Part 2: Methodological Disputes in the Twentieth Century: Rationalism, Hermeneutics, and Critical Theory 4. Critical Rationalism and Critical Theory: Popper, Adorno, Habermas, and Albert 5. Reintegrating Science and Ethics: Explanatory, Interpretive, and Emancipatory Sociology in Habermas.
Review :
-Building on works by scholars such as Guy Oates, Thomas Willey, Thomas McCarthy, and Rick Roderick, McCarthy (Kenyon College) presents the place of Max Weber in the neo-Kantian methodological tradition and the later transformation of the tradition by JUrgen (Jurgen) Habermas. In the section on Weber (nearly two-thirds of the book), McCarthy examines Weber's methodological synthesis of the two main strands of Kantianism, a -constructuralism- beginning with Immanuel Kant himself and culminating in the work of Heinrich Rickert, and the existentialist revisionism of thinkers such as Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. Demonstrating how Weber applied these two strands to the epistemological questions of sociology is the real strength of the book... Upper-division undergraduates and above.-
--C. T. Loader, Choice
-McCarthy's book really is a detailed, blow-by-blow account of virtually every significant debate in German sociology that focuses on the theme of objectivity and practical reason. It provides an excellent entry for anyone seeking a concise but comprehensive understanding of Weber and Habermas, not to mention many of the other luminaries who influeneced them.-
--The Review of Politics
-This volume is the most recent contribution by its author to the analysis of the philosophical foundations of German social theory. . . . One's understanding of Weber will be greatly enriched by this book. . . . Attentive reading of . . . this work will lead one to a more complete understanding of the subtleties, implications, and limitations of Weber's theory of methodology, concept formation, and verstehen than is available in most English-language analyses. . . . I highly recommend McCarthy's book to anyone interested in the history and philosophy of sociology, especially with respect to the work of Max Weber. It is an excellent scholarly analysis that compares very favorably with most other work on the subject.-
--Jerry Stark, Contemporary Sociology
"Building on works by scholars such as Guy Oates, Thomas Willey, Thomas McCarthy, and Rick Roderick, McCarthy (Kenyon College) presents the place of Max Weber in the neo-Kantian methodological tradition and the later transformation of the tradition by JUrgen (Jurgen) Habermas. In the section on Weber (nearly two-thirds of the book), McCarthy examines Weber's methodological synthesis of the two main strands of Kantianism, a "constructuralism" beginning with Immanuel Kant himself and culminating in the work of Heinrich Rickert, and the existentialist revisionism of thinkers such as Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. Demonstrating how Weber applied these two strands to the epistemological questions of sociology is the real strength of the book... Upper-division undergraduates and above."
--C. T. Loader, Choice
"McCarthy's book really is a detailed, blow-by-blow account of virtually every significant debate in German sociology that focuses on the theme of objectivity and practical reason. It provides an excellent entry for anyone seeking a concise but comprehensive understanding of Weber and Habermas, not to mention many of the other luminaries who influeneced them."
--The Review of Politics
"This volume is the most recent contribution by its author to the analysis of the philosophical foundations of German social theory. . . . One's understanding of Weber will be greatly enriched by this book. . . . Attentive reading of . . . this work will lead one to a more complete understanding of the subtleties, implications, and limitations of Weber's theory of methodology, concept formation, and verstehen than is available in most English-language analyses. . . . I highly recommend McCarthy's book to anyone interested in the history and philosophy of sociology, especially with respect to the work of Max Weber. It is an excellent scholarly analysis that compares very favorably with most other work on the subject."
--Jerry Stark, Contemporary Sociology
"Building on works by scholars such as Guy Oates, Thomas Willey, Thomas McCarthy, and Rick Roderick, McCarthy (Kenyon College) presents the place of Max Weber in the neo-Kantian methodological tradition and the later transformation of the tradition by JUrgen (Jurgen) Habermas. In the section on Weber (nearly two-thirds of the book), McCarthy examines Weber's methodological synthesis of the two main strands of Kantianism, a "constructuralism" beginning with Immanuel Kant himself and culminating in the work of Heinrich Rickert, and the existentialist revisionism of thinkers such as Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. Demonstrating how Weber applied these two strands to the epistemological questions of sociology is the real strength of the book... Upper-division undergraduates and above."
--C. T. Loader, Choice
"McCarthy's book really is a detailed, blow-by-blow account of virtually every significant debate in German sociology that focuses on the theme of objectivity and practical reason. It provides an excellent entry for anyone seeking a concise but comprehensive understanding of Weber and Habermas, not to mention many of the other luminaries who influeneced them."
--The Review of Politics
"This volume is the most recent contribution by its author to the analysis of the philosophical foundations of German social theory. . . . One's understanding of Weber will be greatly enriched by this book. . . . Attentive reading of . . . this work will lead one to a more complete understanding of the subtleties, implications, and limitations of Weber's theory of methodology, concept formation, and verstehen than is available in most English-language analyses. . . . I highly recommend McCarthy's book to anyone interested in the history and philosophy of sociology, especially with respect to the work of Max Weber. It is an excellent scholarly analysis that compares very favorably with most other work on the subject."
--Jerry Stark, Contemporary Sociology
"Building on works by scholars such as Guy Oates, Thomas Willey, Thomas McCarthy, and Rick Roderick, McCarthy (Kenyon College) presents the place of Max Weber in the neo-Kantian methodological tradition and the later transformation of the tradition by Jurgen (Jurgen) Habermas. In the section on Weber (nearly two-thirds of the book), McCarthy examines Weber's methodological synthesis of the two main strands of Kantianism, a "constructuralism" beginning with Immanuel Kant himself and culminating in the work of Heinrich Rickert, and the existentialist revisionism of thinkers such as Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. Demonstrating how Weber applied these two strands to the epistemological questions of sociology is the real strength of the book... Upper-division undergraduates and above." --C. T. Loader, Choice "McCarthy's book really is a detailed, blow-by-blow account of virtually every significant debate in German sociology that focuses on the theme of objectivity and practical reason. It provides an excellent entry for anyone seeking a concise but comprehensive understanding of Weber and Habermas, not to mention many of the other luminaries who influeneced them." --The Review of Politics "I highly recommend McCarthy's book to anyone interested in the history and philosophy of sociology, especially with respect to the work of Max Weber. It is an excellent scholarly analysis that compares very favorably with most other work on the subject." "--"Jerry Stark, "Contemporary Sociology"
"McCarthy's book really is a detailed, blow-by-blow account of virtually every significant debate in German sociology that focuses on the theme of objectivity and practical reason. It provides an excellent entry for anyone seeking a concise but comprehensive understanding of Weber and Habermas, not to mention many of the other luminaries who influeneced them." -- The Review of Politics Issues important to the philosophy of social science are widely discussed in the American academy today. Some social scientists resist the very idea of a debate on general issues. They continue to focus on behaviorist and positivist criteria, and the concepts, methods, and theories appropriate to a particular and narrow form of scientific inquiry. McCarthy argues that a new and valuable perspective may be gained on these questions through a return to philosophical debates surrounding the origins and development of nineteenth- and twentieth-century German sociology. In Objectivity and the Silence of Reason he focuses on two key figures, Max Weber and Jrgen Habermas, reopening the vibrant and rich intellectual dispute about knowledge and truth in epistemology and concept formation, logic of analysis, and methodology in the social sciences. He uses this debate to explore the forms of objectivity in everyday experience and science, and the relations between science, ethics, and politics.
McCarthy analyzes the tension in Weber's work between his early methodological writings with their emphasis on interpretive science, subjective intentionality, cultural and historical meaning and the later works that emphasize issues of explanatory science, natural causality, social prediction, and nomological law. While arguing for a value-free science, Weber was highly critical of the disenchanted and meaningless world of technical reason and rejected positivist objectivity. McCarthy shows how Habermas attempted to resolve tensions in Weber's work by clarifying the relationship between the metho
