Explaining Social Behavior

More Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences
2. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-0-521-77179-5
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 496 Seiten, Format (B × H): 158 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 808 g

This book is an expanded and revised edition of the author's critically acclaimed volume Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. In twenty-six succinct chapters, Jon Elster provides an account of the nature of explanation in the social sciences. He offers an overview of key explanatory mechanisms in the social sciences, relying on hundreds of examples and drawing on a large variety of sources - psychology, behavioral economics, biology, political science, historical writings, philosophy and fiction. Written in accessible and jargon-free language, Elster aims at accuracy and clarity while eschewing formal models. In a provocative conclusion, Elster defends the centrality of qualitative social sciences in a two-front war against soft (literary) and hard (mathematical) forms of obscurantism.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Elster, Jon

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Gesellschaftstheorie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Sozialpsychologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface; Introduction; Part I. Explanation and Mechanisms: 1. Explanation; 2. Mechanisms; 3. Interpretation; Part II. The Mind: 4. Motivations; 5. Self-interest and altruism; 6. Myopia and foresight; 7. Beliefs; 8. Emotions; Part III. Action: 9. Desires and opportunities; 10. Persons and situations; 11. Rational choice; 12. Rationality and behavior; 13. Responding to irrationality; 14. Some implications for textual interpretation; Part IV. Lessons from the Natural Sciences: 15. Physiology and neuroscience; 16. Explanation by consequences and natural selection; 17. Selection and human behavior; Part V. Interaction: 18. Unintended consequences; 19. Strategic interaction; 20. Games and behavior; 21. Trust; 22. Social norms; 23. Collective belief formation; 24. Collective action; 25. Collective decision-making; 26. Organizations and institutions; Conclusion.

Über Autor(innen)

Elster, Jon
Jon Elster is Professor and Chaire de Rationalite et Sciences Sociales at the College de France. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, he is a recipient of fellowships from The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the Russell Sage Foundation, among many others. Dr Elster has taught at the University of Chicago and Columbia University and has held visiting professorships at many universities in the United States and in Europe. He is the author and editor of thirty-four books, most recently Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective, Elementary Social Science from an Advanced Standpoint, and Retribution and Restitution in the Transition to Democracy.