Sage Publications Causality (SAGE Benchmarks in Social Research Methods)

Causality is a core problem in social science methodology, as the laws of causality found in physics - which state generalizations without exceptions - are not found in the social sciences. As a consequence, classical definitions of the causal relation, such as John Stuart Mill′s definition in terms of invariant succession, need either to be modified and qualified, or replaced by a different concept of causality entirely. This has led to a long and complex literature on the problems of causality. This four volume major reference work, Causality, covers the main issues, methods of analysis, and alternatives, of causality, including the classic texts applying these alternative concepts and methods to empirical cases. The volumes give a substantial historical and philosophical introduction relevant to the concerns of practitioners. As a whole, the volumes represent a complete guide to the literature on social science causality from the beginning to the present.t. About the Author Stephen Turner is Graduate Research Professor. His Ph.D. is from the University of Missouri. His dissertation, Sociological Explanation as Translation , was published in 1980 by Cambridge . He is the author of a number of books in the history and philosophy of social science and statistics, including books on Max Weber, on whom he also edited the Cambridge Companion volume. He is the co-author of the standard one-volume history of American Sociology, The Impossible Science. He has also written extensively in science studies, especially on patronage and the politics and economics of science, and on the concept of practices, including two books, The Social Theory of Practices and Brains//Practices/ Relativism . His Liberal Democracy 3.0: Civil Society in an Age of Experts, reflects his interest in the problem the political significance of science. Among his other current interests are problems of explaining normativity, especially the conflict between philosophical and social scientific accounts, and issues relating to the implications of cognitive neuroscience for social theory, especially related to the problem of tacit knowledge and mirror neurons. He is also engaged in a large project on the realism of Hans Kelsen and Max Weber and its relevance for contemporary discussions of political theory and law. His most recent book, Explaining the Normative (Polity 2010) is a critique and an alternative to the accounts of “normativity” one finds in philosophers like McDowell, Brandom, Korsgaard, Nagel, and the like. Among his other recent edited books are The SAGE Handbook of Social Science Methodology, with William Outhwaite, and The Routledge International Handbook of Contemporary Social and Political Theory, with Gerard Delanty. He has had fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.