[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-40712-en":3,"doc-seo-40712-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},40712,687197207057,"Sage","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0",8,"Research & Report","Philosophy of Anthropology and Sociology Handbook Preface","This document presents a preface to a multi-volume Handbook in the philosophy of science, introducing editors and explaining why philosophy links closely with scientific inquiry at the frontiers of knowledge. It outlines how philosophy of science addresses controversies about theory and experiment, explanation, and what exists and can be known within particular sciences. It then transitions to the specific challenges of providing a systematic overview of twentieth-century social-science philosophy, especially regarding anthropology and sociology.","GENERAL PREFACE  \nDov Gabbay, Paul Thagard, and John Woods  \nWhenever science operates at the cutting edge of what is known, it invariably runs into philosophical issues about the nature of knowledge and reality. Scientiﬁc controversies raise such questions as the relation of theory and experiment, the nature of explanation, and the extent to which science can approximate to the truth. Within particular sciences, special concerns arise about what exists and how it can be known, for example in physics about the nature of space and time, and in psychology about the nature of consciousness. Hence the philosophy of science is an essential part of the scientiﬁc investigation of the world.  \nIn recent decades, philosophy of science has become an increasingly central part of philosophy in general. Although there are still philosophers who think that theories of knowledge and reality can be developed by pure reﬂection, much current philosophical work ﬁnds it necessary and valuable to take into account relevant scientiﬁc ﬁndings. For example, the philosophy of mind is now closely tied to empirical psychology, and political theory often intersects with economics. Thus philosophy of science provides a valuable bridge between philosophical and scientiﬁc inquiry.  \nMore and more, the philosophy of science concerns itself not just with general issues about the nature and validity of science, but especially with particular issues that arise in speciﬁc sciences. Accordingly, we have organized this Handbook into many volumes reﬂecting the full range of current research in the philosophy of science. We invited volume editors who are fully involved in the speciﬁc sciences, and are delighted that they have solicited contributions by scientiﬁcally-informed philosophers and (in a few cases) philosophically-informed scientists. The result is the most comprehensive review ever provided of the philosophy of science.  \nHere are the volumes in the Handbook:  \nPhilosophy of Science: Focal Issues, edited by Theo Kuipers.  \nPhilosophy of Physics, edited by Jeremy Butterﬁeld and John Earman.  \nPhilosophy of Biology, edited by Mohan Matthen and Christopher Stephens. Philosophy of Mathematics, edited by Andrew Irvine.  \nPhilosophy of Logic, edited by Dale Jacquette.  \nPhilosophy of Chemistry and Pharmacology, edited by Andrea Woody and Robin Hendry.  \nvi Dov Gabbay, Paul Thagard, and John Woods  \nPhilosophy of Statistics, edited by Prasanta S. Bandyopadhyay and Malcolm Forster.  \nPhilosophy of Information, edited by Pieter Adriaans and Johan van Benthem.  \nPhilosophy of Technological Sciences, edited by Anthonie Meijers.  \nPhilosophy of Complex Systems, edited by Cliﬀ Hooker and John Collier.  \nPhilosophy of Earth Systems Science, edited by Bryson Brown and Kent Peacock.  \nPhilosophy of Psychology and Cognitive Science, edited by Paul Thagard. Philosophy of Economics, edited by Uskali M a¨ki.  \nPhilosophy of Linguistics, edited by Martin Stokhof and Jeroen Groenendijk.  \nPhilosophy of Anthropology and Sociology, edited by Stephen Turner and Mark Risjord.  \nPhilosophy of Medicine, edited by Fred Giﬀord.  \nDetails about the contents and publishing schedule of the volumes can be found at [http://www.johnwoods.ca/HPS/](http://www.johnwoods.ca/HPS/) .  \nAs general editors, we are extremely grateful to the volume editors for arranging such a distinguished array of contributors and for managing their contributions. Production of these volumes has been a huge enterprise, and our warmest thanks go to Jane Spurr and Carol Woods for putting them together. Thanks also to Andy Deelen and Arjen Sevenster at Elsevier for their support and direction.  \nPREFACE  \nThere was a time in the philosophy of social science when a volume like this could cover the issues with half dozen essays. From the perspective of the early twenty-ﬁrst century, however, gaining a systematic overview of twentieth century developments in the philosophy of the social sciences, and particularly the phi","cbCaiemruoXYdZBY","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiemruoXYdZBY","pdf",10846314,2,1,870,"English","en",105,"# General Preface\n## Handbook scope and volumes\n# Preface\n## Overview problem in social-science philosophy","[{\"question\":\"Why does philosophy of science matter for scientific investigation?\",\"answer\":\"Because when science operates at the cutting edge of what is known, it raises philosophical questions about the nature of knowledge and reality, explanation, and the relation between theory and experiment.\"},{\"question\":\"How has philosophy of science developed in recent decades?\",\"answer\":\"It has become increasingly central and more connected to scientific findings, so that work in philosophy often incorporates relevant empirical results from sciences like psychology and economics.\"},{\"question\":\"What makes it difficult to provide a systematic overview of twentieth-century social-science philosophy?\",\"answer\":\"Philosophical issues and perspectives are deeply embedded in the internal development of anthropology and sociology, and methodological and substantive theoretical literature can overlap with and overwhelm specifically philosophical discussions.\"}]",1783314512,2192,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"philosophy-of-anthropology-and-sociology-handbook-preface","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/philosophy-of-anthropology-and-sociology-handbook-preface/40712/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-11","2026-07-06",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Why does philosophy of science matter for scientific investigation?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"Because when science operates at the cutting edge of what is known, it raises philosophical questions about the nature of knowledge and reality, explanation, and the relation between theory and experiment.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How has philosophy of science developed in recent decades?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"It has become increasingly central and more connected to scientific findings, so that work in philosophy often incorporates relevant empirical results from sciences like psychology and economics.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What makes it difficult to provide a systematic overview of twentieth-century social-science philosophy?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"Philosophical issues and perspectives are deeply embedded in the internal development of anthropology and sociology, and methodological and substantive theoretical literature can 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