Comment on Naturalizing Critical Realist Social Ontology

Journal of Social Ontology

article

Petri Ylikoski¹ 

[1] Institute for Analytical Sociology, Linköping University;Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, PO Box 18 University of Helsinki 00014

关键词: Critical realism;    Transcendental argument;    Causal power;    Emergence;    Social ontology;   

DOI  :  10.1515/jso-2015-0005

来源: De Gruyter

【 摘 要 】

This comment discusses Kaidesoja (2013) and raises the issue whether his analysis justifies stronger conclusions than he presents in the book. My comments focus on four issues. First, I argue that his naturalistic reconstruction of critical realist transcendental arguments shows that transcendental arguments should be treated as a rare curiosity rather than a general argumentative strategy. Second, I suggest that Kaidesoja’s analysis does not really justify his optimism about the usefulness of causal powers ontology in the social sciences. Third, I raise some doubts about the heuristic value of Mario Bunge’s social ontology that Kaidesoja presents as a replacement for critical realist ontology. Finally, I propose an alternative way to analyze failures of aggregativity that might better serve Kaidesoja’s purposes than the Wimsattian scheme he employs in the book.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND