Philosophy of Social Science

philosophy of social science

The social sciences raise a host of fascinating methodological, ontological, and ethical questions. Philosophers from various subdisciplines--philosophy of anthropology, economics, psychology, and sociology; analytic metaphysics; and social and political philosophy--are all grappling with these questions in different ways. What is more exciting is that social scientists are often engaging these issues with the same enthusiasm as philosophers, but with fresh perspectives owing to differences in training. The time is ripe for greater dialogue between these diverse researchers. Most of my work in the near future will be in this area--most notably a book-length project tentatively titled, Race in the Social Sciences. In addition to addressing issues specific to the philosophy of social science, these works also address several issues in general philosophy of science (e.g., representation, realism, and science and values).

Professional Activities

I'm a member of the Steering Committee for the Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable and have served on the Scientific Committees for the European Network for the Philosophy of Social Science and Asian Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences.
I started the Philosophy of Social Science Network on Facebook. Feel free to join us.
I am organizing an interdisciplinary workshop on Social Ontology and Empirical Inquiry at the University of Pittsburgh in April, 2026.
I organized a workshop on New Directions in the Philosophy of Social Science at UCLA in August, 2025.
Along with Randall Harp, I organized the Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable in Burlington, VT. April 12-13, 2019. Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I also co-organized the 2020 roundtable with Mark Risjord in Atlanta, GA.

Special Issues Edited

As a member of the steering committee of the Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable, I am responsible for co-editing a special issue in the journal, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, nearly every year:

2024. Philosophy of the Social Sciences. 54 (2): Roundtable of the Philosophy of Social Sciences, Memphis, Tennessee, March 17-18, 2023. (with D. Henderson, M. Risjord, P. Roth, D. Tollefsen, and S. Turner)
2023. Philosophy of the Social Sciences. 53 (2): Papers from the Roundtable on Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Lincoln, Nebraska, April 1-2, 2022. (co-edited with David Henderson, Mark Risjord, Paul Roth, Deborah Tollefsen and Stephen Turner)
2022. Philosophy of the Social Sciences. 52 (1-2): Joint Conference of the Asian Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences, the European Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences, and the Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable, Hitotsubashi University, March 4-7, 2021. (with R. Gotoh et al.)
2021. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 51(2): Roundtable on Philosophy of the Social Sciences Atlanta March 13-15, 2020. (co-edited with David Henderson, Mark Risjord, Paul Roth, Deborah Tollefsen and Stephen Turner)
2020. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 50(2): Roundtable on Philosophy of the Social Sciences University of Vermont, April 12-14, 2019. (co-edited with Randall Harp, David Henderson, Mark Risjord, Paul Roth, and Stephen Turner)

Book Projects

in progress. Race in the Social Sciences.

Articles and Book Chapters

in progress. Paper on understanding and social-scientific measurement. (with Collin Rice)

2025. Thick concepts and impartiality. Philosophy of Science. (with Mark Risjord and Jared Millson)
2025. Inquiry and underdetermination. in Aaron Creller & Jonathan Matheson (eds.), Inquiry: Philosophical Perspectives, Routledge. (with Jared Millson)
2025. Inquiry and epistemic priority: lessons from segregation research. in Jon Tsou, Jamie Shaw, & Carla Fehr (eds.) Values, Pluralism, and Pragmatism: Themes from the Work of Matthew J. Brown. Springer. (with Jared Millson & Mark Risjord)
forthcoming. Thick concepts and impartiality. Philosophy of Science. (with Mark Risjord & Jared Millson)
2025. Getting the Methodenstreit Right. Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 99 (1): 25-46.
2023. Should ordinary race talk be ontologically privileged? Moving social science into the philosophical mainstream. Synthese 202 (5): 144. (with Richard Lauer)
2021. Do the social sciences vindicate race's reality? Philosophers' Imprint. 21 (21): 1-17. (with Richard Lauer)
2021. Estimating the reproducibility of experimental philosophy. Review of Philosophy and Psychology. 12: 9-44 (with Florian Cova et al.)
2020. Understanding, truth, and epistemic goals. Philosophy of Science 87 (5):944-956. (This is a general philosophy of science paper that uses some social-scientific examples).
2020. Explanatory obligations. Episteme. 17 (3): 384-401. (with Jared Millson. This is a general philosophy of science paper that uses some social-scientific examples).
2019. Idealizations and understanding: much ado about nothing? Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 97 (4):673-689. (with Emily Sullivan. This is a general philosophy of science paper that uses some social-scientific examples).
2019. Is Verstehen scientific understanding? Philosophy of the Social Sciences. 49(4): 282-306.
2016. Realism and antirealism. in Rosenberg, A. and L. McIntyre (eds.), Routledge companion to philosophy of social science (London: Routledge). (with Randall Harp)
2015. What are stylized facts? Journal of Economic Methodology 22 (2): 143-156. (with Leticia Arroyo Abad)
2004. Erotetic contextualism, data-generating procedures, and sociological explanations of social mobility. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 34 (1): 38-54.