The Return of Grand Theory in the Human Sciences

20th Nov 2014 by RAMADEVI

The book “The Return of Grand Theories in the Human Sciences” unfolds essay, which draws the map of the few of the most influential philosophical thoughts in social sciences. It presents logical chronology of the philosophical thoughts, which challenges the orthodoxy of positivism and empiricism in human sciences. It represents iconoclastic approaches of the nine modern social thinkers Hans- Georg Gadamer, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Thomas Kuhn, John Rawls, Jürgen Habermas, Louis Althusser, Claude Lévi- Strauss and Fernand Braudel with a lucid and engaging introduction by Quentin Skinner. Before delving into the book an understanding of the distinction between the human sciences and social sciences will be helpful for the readers. Quentin engages and analyses through nine essays how social sciences have contributed to the human sciences. The pursuit of truth in human sciences initiated with metaphysics. Due to its inherent inadequacies it failed to yield holistic understanding of human sciences. Metaphysics came under scathing attack by positivism. Positivism as an approach assumed central position in the philosophy of human sciences. Prominence of positivism discarded ‘Marxism, psychoanalysis and all forms of utopian social philosophy’. Later on its mechanistic view of human life and denial of human agency was challenged rigorously. Revival of Marxism, reclamation of its earlier status by psychoanalysis and emergence of various approaches like structuralists, hermeneutics, deconstructionists, presented a grave threat to the positivism. Each essay attacks the fallacy of positivism in the social sciences. It highlights the lacunae and crisis in the social sciences, which obstinately accentuates the significance of description over understanding. Aim of this book is to explore and uncover the theoretical approaches that are in pursuit of not only attacking but also transforming the philosophy of social sciences Vis a Vis human science. Philosophies, which are challenging social sciences in this book, are hermeneutics, structuralism, post structuralism/modernism, deconstruction and dilemma of how to attain a just society. Multiple philosophical ideas emerged during and after the preeminence positivism in human sciences. Legion of theories presented in this book are divergent in their ideas. They seem inconsistent with each other. On a closer, scrutiny it represents a unity of ideas and collective disregard for the positivism as a central philosophy governing the conception of human sciences. The title of the book “The Return of Grand Theory” is paradoxical as various contesting philosophical thoughts in human sciences are not in support of grand theories or in their establishment on the contrary they emerged to challenge the same tradition. It attacks any broader and majestic framework of understanding human sciences. Essays suggest a strong opposition of any approach providing universal principles of human life.However, these alternative approaches are anti method or anti strategic but they also end up suggesting methods, theories and strategies to gain insight and understanding of the social phenomena.

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