Meaning and Method in the Social Sciences

Paul A Roth's book examines an important controversy in the philosophy of the social sciences that has developed since the demise of logical positivism and its conception of rationality. Roth contends that this controversy—a dispute over the canons of rationality—is the product of the mistaken belief in methodological exclusivism. Drawing on work in contemporary epistemology by W. V. O. Quine, Richard Rorty, and Paul Feyerabend, he argues that no single theory of human behavior has methodological priority; indeed, the existence of a plethora of theories for the study of human behavior, he believes, is an inevitable consequence of our epistemic situation.

Paul A Roth is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.

Paul Roth has written a highly interesting, intellectually rewarding, and important book. His discussion of the implications of contemporary philosophy for the social sciences is outstanding.