On the Logic of the Social Sciences

J&uumlrgen Habermas is the author of numerous books including The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity (Polity 1988) and The Theory of Communicative Action (Polity, 1988).

'On the logic of the Social Sciences is a fine tribute to the care with which Habermas prepared his [intellectual] expedition. His survey of the literature of social scientific theory is inclusive and incisive.' Times Higher Education Supplement 'The vision of this book remains powerful and there is still much to be learned and gained from this, one of Habermas's most accessible, practical, and relevant texts.' Environment and Planning

• Introduction. Translator's Note. Preface.Part I. The Dualism of the Natural and Cultural Sciences:.1. A Historical Reconstruction.2. Sociology and History: The Contemporary Discussion.Part II. On the Methodology of General Theories of Social Action:.3. Normative-Analytic and Empirical-Analytic Approaches to Social Science.4. Intentional Action and Stimulus-Response Behaviour.5. Three Forms of Functionalism.Part III. On the Problem of Understanding Meaning in the Empirical-Analytic Sciences of Action:.6. The Phenomenological Approach.7. The Linguistic Approach.8. The Hermeneutic Approach.Part IV. Sociology as Theory of the Present:.9. The Limits of Linguistically Oriented Interpretive Sociology.10. Open Questions.Notes.Index.