Excellent4.8 out of 5On Trustpilot
  1. Christian Academic Books/
  2. Philosophy

Verstehen: The Uses of Understanding in the Social Sciences

  • Hardback
  • Publisher: Routledge
  • 15.3 x 22.9 x 1.8 cm

£146.38

Free UK Delivery

Available - Usually dispatched within 6 days

Buying for a school or church? Upgrade to a FREE Eden Advance Account

In late nineteenth-century German academic circles, the term verstehen (literally, understanding, or comprehension) came to be associated with the view that social phenomena must be understood from the point of view of the social actor. Advocates of this approach were opposed by positivists who stressed the unity of method between the social and natural sciences and an external, experimental, and quantitative knowledge. Although modified over time, the dispute between positivists and antipositivists--nowadays called naturalists and antinaturalists--has persisted and still defines many debates in the field of philosophy of social sciences. In this volume, Michael Martin offers a critical appraisal of verstehen as a method of verification and discovery as well as a necessary condition for understanding.

In its strongest forms, verstehen entails subjectively reliving the experience of the social actor or at least rethinking his or her thoughts, while in its weaker forms it only involves reconstructing the rationale for acting. Martin's opening chapter offers a reconsideration of the debate between the classical verstehen theorists--Wilhelm Dilthey, Max Weber, R.G. Collingwood--and the positivists. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with positivist critiques of verstehen as a method of social scientific verification and understanding. In the subsequent chapters Martin considers contemporary varieties of the verstehen position and argues that they like the classical positions, they conflict with the pluralistic nature of social science. Chapter 4 discusses Peter Winch's and William Dray's variants of verstehen, while chapters 5 through 9 consider recent theorists--Karl Popper, Charles Taylor, Clifford Geertz--whose work can be characterized in verstehenist terms: In his conclusion Martin defines the limitations of the classical and recent verstehen positions and proposes a methodological pluralism in which verstehen is justified pragmatically in terms of the purposes and contexts of inquiry. This volume is the only comprehensive and sustained critique of verstehen theory currently available. It will be of interest to sociologists, philosophers, political scientists, and anthropologists.

Verstehen: The Uses of Understanding in the Social Sciences and Zondervan 2020 Church and Nonprofit Tax and Financial Guide
Zondervan 2020 Church and Nonprofit Tax and Financial GuideVerstehen: The Uses of Understanding in the Social Sciences
  • Author

    Michael Martin

  • Book Format

    Hardback

  • Publisher

    Routledge

  • Published

    October 1999

  • Weight

    541g

  • Dimensions

    15.3 x 22.9 x 1.8 cm

  • ISBN

    9780765800039

  • ISBN-10

    0765800039

  • Eden Code

    5154383

Over 14,000 churches and schools have upgraded to an Advance Account and we‘d love to welcome you into this free program. We know that church volunteers and school teachers often use their own money, then have claim it back on on an expense form. We can take all of that hassle away by invoicing your church or school directly and delivering your order straight away.

Opening an account is quick and easy, with most accounts being approved and setup within a few hours of filling in the form below (on weekdays, not weekends). As soon as we‘ve approved the application we‘ll send you an email to let you know that its done.

Upgrade to a FREE Eden Advance Account