“Social kinds” - such as the economy, national boundaries or money - are undeniably real, but not in the same way as “natural kinds” like atoms or stars. Unlike natural kinds, the reality of social kinds depends on our recognition of that reality. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s work, we will consider the role of the natural and social sciences in the “construction” of social kinds. We will examine how power and knowledge interact in this process and whether science can adequately explain social reality. Finally, we will consider the implications of these findings for our current situation.
- How we inhabit “social reality”- comprising things like the economy, national borders, or kinds of people. Yet like fish unaware of the water in which they swim, we fail to notice social reality’s distinctive features.
- How natural sciences like physics or chemistry explain and predict, whilst social sciences like economics, criminology or psychology, lack the same explanatory-predictive power.
- Can social sciences, supplemented with more complete knowledge, ever provide certainty? Drawing on Michel Foucault’s work, we will investigate this question.
- How social objects are “constructed” and how power and knowledge interact to shape social reality.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Understand the complex notion of social reality, and how “social kinds” differ from “natural kinds”.
- Understand important aspects of Michel Foucault’s work.
- Appreciate how “power/knowledge” constructs social reality.
- Grasp how the sciences interact and modify aspects of social reality.
