Lecture 3

Question 1

what comes first epistemology, methodology and ontology

Answer 1

ontology -> epistemology -> methodology

Question 2

skin and not sweater

Answer 2

ontology and epistemology:
we can’t just switch depending on our research question or preferred methodology
- why? a researcher must be coherent across research (you can of course evolve, you can change you mind, but you can’t take opposing views on such a fundamental question due to preferences)

ontology and epistemology are there prior to the research

Question 3

realism
conflicting uses

Answer 3

• position in ontology: foundationalist view
  *not used by the lecturer in this way
• position in epistemology: critical realism
• substantive realism: IR theory

Question 4

hermeneutic / interpretivism

Question 5

what is ontology?

Answer 5

the study of the nature of being
an ontology = a theory of being, about what is

different kinds of ontological questions
- what is the nature of reality?
- what ‘‘really’’ exists?
- is there a world ‘‘out there’’ independent of our experiences?
- where is love? (Oliver quote, sung by Theuns)

two main theories: relativist/anti-foundationalist and objectivism/foundationalism

Question 6

social ontology

Answer 6

questions concerned with nature of social entities

• can and should they be considered objective (foundationalist)
• or can and should they be seen as social constructs (anti-foundationalist)

can vs. should: some say we should adopt an anti-foundational approach, as we only have access to the filtered version (filtered by peoples understanding, interaction of the external what) of the objective reality

Question 7

foundationalism/objectivism

Answer 7

the world is composed of discrete objects which possess properties that are independent of the observer

there is a real world which exists independently of our knowledge of it

causality operates independently of the observer

Question 8

anti-foundationalism / relativism

Answer 8

less intuitive

realities are local and specific; they vary between individuals/groups (realities differ between time and space)

reality isn’t discovered, it is actively constructed

note: this doesn’t mean that they think there is no ‘real world’ which is ‘out there’, but rather that it doesn’t matter, this ‘real world’ has no causal power on social action independent of people’s understanding of it

Question 9

epistemology

Answer 9

study of what we CAN know

theories of knowledge

e.g. epistemological questions include:
- what is knowledge?
- are there boundaries to what we can know? (e.g. about the universe: can we know, can we theorize beyond what we can see)

Question 10

connection epistemology and ontology

Answer 10

epistemological questions always have an ontological element (what CAN we know, ABOUT…)

taking a position on epistemological questions implicates a position on ontological questions

e.g. will I ever know that sweet hello that’s meant for only me?
- epistemological question
- ontological element: the existence of a sweet hello

Question 11

applied epistemological questions

Answer 11

• how do I know whether other people have minds?
• can we study social and political phenomena using the scientific method?
• how do you know I brushed my teeth?
• will i ever KNOW that sweet hello that’s meant for only me?

Question 12

applied ontological questions

Answer 12

• if a tree falls when no one is around, does it still make sound
• what is love? where is love?
• what really exists?

Question 13

broad epistemological positions in political science

Answer 13

• scientific/positivist
• hermeneutic/interpretivist
• critical realist

Question 14

scientific/positivist approaches

Answer 14

• linked to behaviouralism and rational choice theory

epistemology
+ foundational approach to ontology

goal: formulation of general laws and accurate predictions

ability to predict how people are gonna behave in a certain fixed context

links to the natural sciences approach: they are seen as relatively the same, social science should (as far as possible) follow natural science approach to science

direct observation can serve as an independent test of the validity of a theory
- normative and empirical claims can be entirely separated

Question 15

Keohane, King and Varga about positivism

Answer 15

'’Social scientists who only focus on only overt, observable behaviours are missing a lot, but how are we to know if we cannot see?’’

doesn’t say that it doesn’t exist, just says that we can’t describe/analyse it scientifically

Question 16

criticisms of positivism
Quine

Answer 16

mediation of concepts on sensory experience (every observation is mediated by concepts)
= philosophical

• when noting an observation you are forced to do so using concepts and language
• concepts/language mediate what we observe: what we can observe is mediated between reality and concepts (guided by language)
• e.g. owls: different race or just one that has pointy ears or not? -> different results/observations

Theory guides fact-finding and interpretation: we can decide the facts are ‘wrong’ (to protect the theory: the observation must be wrong, not te theory)
= sociological

Question 17

hermeneutic/interpretative approaches

Answer 17

trying to understand social and political behaviour rather than explaining it
- verstehen and erklaren

understanding relates to human reasoning and intentions as grounds for social action (self-reflection about position in the world, how this is contextualized in their behaviour)

we can’t predict what individuals are going to do

Question 18

interpretivism and discourse

Answer 18

there is a social/discursive construction of the world

knowledge is theoretically and conceptually (and discursively) ‘laden’

we can’t unbiased acces social facts, we should focus on identifying discourses or traditions that make sense of interpretations of social phenomena

Question 19

critiques of interpretivism

Answer 19

• they only offer subjective opinions (according to positivists)
• how can we falsify interpretative claims?
• do they constitute scientific knowledge?

Question 20

critical realism

Question 21

criticisms of critical realism