Plausible Worlds: Possibility and Understanding in History and the Social Sciences - Couverture rigide

Hawthorn, Geoffrey

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0521403596 ISBN 13 : 9780521403597

Editeur : Cambridge University Press, 1991

Synopsis

Examples through history used to examine the role of possible worlds in explanation and practical judgements.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Possibilities haunt history. The force of our explanations of events turns on the alternative possibilities these explanations suggest. It is these possible worlds which give us our understanding; and in human affairs we decide them by practical rather than theoretical judgement. In his widely acclaimed account of the role of counterfactuals in explanation, Geoffrey Hawthorn deploys extended examples from history and modern times to defend his argument. His conclusions cast doubt on existing assumptions about the nature and place of theory, and indeed of the possibility of knowledge itself, in the human sciences.

Revue de presse

'Hawthorn's Plausible Worlds is not only a good read, filled with all sorts of fascinating information, but a book that raises very large and interesting questions about the nature of explanation in the human sciences. I found his answers to the questions persuasive.' Richard Rorty

'This volume is a marvelously stimulating and thought provoking work. It ought to be on the reading lists of advanced courses on both the theory and the methodology of history writing.' Allan Megill, The American Historical Review

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Cambridge University Press
• Date d'édition: 1991
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0521403596
• ISBN 13: 9780521403597
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 206
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Avery; https://www.avery.fr/; ; chemin des peupliers 27; Dardilly; France