Plausible Worlds : Possibility and Understanding in History and the Social Sciences download EPUB, MOBI, FB2
9780521457767 English 0521457769 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 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. Hawthorn's Plausible Worlds is not only an interesting read, filled with intriguing information, but a book that also raises interesting questions about the nature of explanation in the human sciences.
9780521457767 English 0521457769 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 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. Hawthorn's Plausible Worlds is not only an interesting read, filled with intriguing information, but a book that also raises interesting questions about the nature of explanation in the human sciences.