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The Natural vs. Human Sciences: Myth, Methodology, and Ontology

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Author

  • Rögnvaldur Ingthorsson

Summary, in English

I argue that the human sciences (i.e. humanities, social- and behavioural sciences) should not try to imitate the methodology of the natural sciences. The human sciences study meaningful phenomena whose nature is decisively different from the merely physical phenomena studied by the natural sciences, and whose study therefore require different methods; meaningful phenomena do not obviously obey natural laws while the merely physical necessarily does. This is not to say that the human sciences do not study an objective reality about which we cannot have genuine knowledge. The notion of objective reality is discussed, and it is suggested that social constructions can be understood as objectively real entities.

Publishing year

2013

Language

English

Pages

13-29

Publication/Series

Discusiones Filosóficas

Volume

22

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Universidad de Caldas

Topic

  • Philosophy

Keywords

  • philosophy
  • human science
  • methodology
  • natural science
  • philosophy of science
  • objectivity
  • objective reality
  • social constructions

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0124-6127