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Information
| Unit | INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES |
| PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES (MASTER) (WITH THESIS) | |
| Code | FDB759 |
| Name | Philosophy of Social Sciences |
| Term | 2026-2027 Academic Year |
| Term | Fall |
| Duration (T+A) | 3-0 (T-A) (17 Week) |
| ECTS | 6 ECTS |
| National Credit | 3 National Credit |
| Teaching Language | Türkçe |
| Level | Belirsiz |
| Type | Normal |
| Mode of study | Yüz Yüze Öğretim |
| Catalog Information Coordinator | Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Emine GÖÇER |
| Course Instructor |
The current term course schedule has not been prepared yet.
|
Course Goal / Objective
The aim of this course is to examine the historical, epistemological, and ontological foundations of the social sciences through modern, post-positivist, and realist frameworks, providing an integrated understanding of the discipline’s conceptual evolution. It also seeks to enable students to develop a critical and normative perspective on the future of social science through engagements with postmodern critiques and debates on Islamic social sciences.
Course Content
The course systematically explores the major debates in the philosophy of social science, ranging from the Enlightenment and positivism to post-positivism, critical realism, and mechanism-based explanation. After assessing the epistemic crisis introduced by postmodernism, the course concludes with contemporary discussions on the possibility of Islamic social sciences and cross-civilizational knowledge production.
Course Precondition
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Resources
1. Barnes, Barry. T. S. Kuhn ve Sosyal Bilimler, çev. Hüsamettin Arslan. İstanbul: Paradigma Yayıncılık, 2008. 2. Benton, Ted ve Ian Craib. Sosyal Bilimler Felsefesi. Çev. Ümit Tatlıcan ve Berivan Binay. İstanbul: Sentez Yayıncılık, 2015. 3. Coşkun Ali. İslami Sosyal Bilimler Felsefesi. İstanbul: Rağbet Yayınları, 2015. 4. Hollinger, Robert. Postmodernizm ve Sosyal Bilimler: Tematik Bir Yaklaşım. Çev. Ahmet Cevizci. İstanbul: Paradigma Yayıncılık, 2005. 5. Moles, Abraham. Belirsizliğin Bilimleri: İnsan Bilimleri İçin Yeni Bir Epistemoloji. Çev. Nuri Bilgin. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2012. 6. Trigg, Roger. Sosyal Bilimleri Anlamak. çev. Beyza Sümer ve Filiz Ülgüt. İstanbul: Babil Yayınları, 2005. 7. Gordon, Scott. Sosyal Bilimler Tarihi ve Felsefesi. çev. Hasan Kösebalaban ve Ümit Tatlıcan, İstanbul: Küre Yayınları, 2020. 8. Baert, Patrick. Sosyal Bilimler Felsefesi: Pragmatizme Doğru, Çev. Ümit Tatlıcan, İstanbul: Küre Yayınları, 2010. 9. Fay, Brian. Çağdaş Sosyal Bilimler Felsefesi. Çev. İsmail Türkmen, İstanbul: Ayrıntı Yayınları, 2022. 10. Wallerstein, Immanuel, Bilginin Belirsizlikleri. çev. Berivan Alataş, İstanbul: Sümer Yayıncılık, 2013. 11. Popper, Karl. Bilimsel Araştırmaların Mantığı. çev. İlknur Aka ve İbrahim Turan, İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2017. 12. Bishop, Robert C. The Philosophy of the Social Sciences. New York: Continuum, 2007. 13. Collingwood, R. G. The Idea of History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1946. 14. Comte, Auguste. Introduction to Positive Philosophy. Translated by Frederick Ferré. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 1988. 15. Durkheim, Émile. The Rules of Sociological Method. New York: The Free Press, 1982.
Notes
1. Hollis, Martin. The Philosophy of Social Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 2. Nagel, Ernest. The Structure of Science. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 1979. 3. Rosenberg, Alexander. Philosophy of Social Science. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995. 4. Root, Michael. Philosophy of Social Science. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1993. 5. Weber, Max. Max Weber: Selections in Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978. 6. Winch, Peter. The Idea of a Social Science and Its Relation to Philosophy. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press International, 1958.
Course Learning Outcomes
| Order | Course Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|
| LO01 | Explains the role of Enlightenment thought in the emergence of the social sciences. |
| LO02 | Evaluates how the Scientific Revolution and the mechanical worldview shaped the development of social science. |
| LO03 | Distinguishes empiricism, positivism, and realism as epistemic approaches in the social sciences. |
| LO04 | Compares the explanatory methods of Comte, Mill, Durkheim, and Bhaskar. |
| LO05 | Analyzes the contributions of phenomenology, hermeneutics, and structuralism to the interpretive method. |
| LO06 | Explains epistemic objectivity, anti relativism, and critical naturalism within realist epistemology. |
| LO07 | Evaluates the principles of neo positivism, including verificationism, quantification, and the rejection of metaphysics. |
| LO08 | Discusses Popper’s falsificationism and critical rationalism as critiques of neo positivism. |
| LO09 | Explains Kuhn’s concepts of paradigm, normal science, and scientific revolution. |
| LO10 | Assesses the transformation introduced by post positivist approaches in the social sciences. |
| LO11 | Compares the structure–agency models of Giddens, Bourdieu, and Wendt. |
| LO12 | Applies mechanism based explanation and retroduction to social scientific research. |
| LO13 | Discusses realist and critical responses to postmodern critiques of rationality, objectivity, and truth. |
| LO14 | Explains the epistemic and ontological foundations of Islamic social sciences. |
| LO15 | Evaluates the differences between modern and Islamic epistemologies from a cross civilizational knowledge perspective. |
Relation with Program Learning Outcome
| Order | Type | Program Learning Outcomes | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| PLO01 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Students learn essential knowledge and approaches in the field. | 4 |
| PLO02 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Students have extensive knowledge about national and international studies in the field. | |
| PLO03 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Students perform original researches on the field. | 3 |
| PLO04 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Gain sufficient knowledge about national and international studies in the field. | 5 |
| PLO05 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Can do original research in the field. | 4 |
| PLO06 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Determines a topic from the proposals and develops a report on this issue. | 4 |
| PLO07 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Discusses and presents the research report. | 4 |
| PLO08 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Use individual and team work skills in national and international projects | |
| PLO09 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Recognize the basic sources of the field to use in scientific studies. | 5 |
| PLO10 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Effective use of a foreign language to follow international literature in the field | |
| PLO11 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Using higher order thinking skills (critical thinking, problem solving, creative thinking, decision making, reflection) | |
| PLO12 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | They can conduct their work independently and as a member of a team. | 4 |
| PLO13 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Using scientific research skills in their work | 5 |
| PLO14 | Bilgi - Kuramsal, Olgusal | Follow ethical rules |
Week Plan
| Week | Topic | Preparation | Methods |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Enlightenment and the Emergence of the Social Sciences | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 2 | The Scientific Revolution and the Mechanical Worldview | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 3 | Epistemic Approaches in the Social Sciences: Empiricism, Positivism, and Realism | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 4 | 4. The Explanatory Method: Positivism, Empiricism, and Critical Realism; Comte, Mill, Durkheim, and Bhaskar | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 5 | Analyzes the contributions of phenomenology, hermeneutics, and structuralism to the interpretive method. | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 6 | Explains epistemic objectivity, anti relativism, and critical naturalism within realist epistemology. | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 7 | Neo-Positivism: Behaviorism, the Rejection of Metaphysics, Quantification; The Vienna Circle | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 8 | Mid-Term Exam | Ölçme Yöntemleri: Yazılı Sınav |
|
| 9 | Critiques of Neo-Positivism: Falsificationism and Critical Rationalism; Karl Popper | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap |
| 10 | Post-Positivism: Historicism and Paradigm-Based Social Sciences; Thomas Kuhn | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 11 | Structure–Agency Interaction: Giddens, Bourdieu, and Wendt | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 12 | Realist Methodology: Mechanism-Based Explanation, Retroduction, and Research in Open Systems | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 13 | Critique of Postmodernism: Defending Rationality, Objectivity, and Reality | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 14 | Are Islamic Social Sciences Possible? Epistemic Foundations and Ontological Framework | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 15 | Cross-Civilizational Knowledge: Islam, Modernity, and the Future of the Social Sciences | Obtaining and Reading Relevant and Recommended Resources | Öğretim Yöntemleri: Anlatım, Soru-Cevap, Tartışma |
| 16 | Term Exams | Exam Preparation | Ölçme Yöntemleri: Yazılı Sınav |
| 17 | Term Exams | Exam Preparation | Ölçme Yöntemleri: Yazılı Sınav |
Student Workload - ECTS
| Works | Number | Time (Hour) | Workload (Hour) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course Related Works | |||
| Class Time (Exam weeks are excluded) | 14 | 3 | 42 |
| Out of Class Study (Preliminary Work, Practice) | 14 | 4 | 56 |
| Assesment Related Works | |||
| Homeworks, Projects, Others | 3 | 10 | 30 |
| Mid-term Exams (Written, Oral, etc.) | 1 | 12 | 12 |
| Final Exam | 1 | 14 | 14 |
| Total Workload (Hour) | 154 | ||
| Total Workload / 25 (h) | 6,16 | ||
| ECTS | 6 ECTS | ||