There is No Such Thing as a Social Science: In Defence of Peter Winch

Three British social scientists take up the defense of Peter Winch's 1958 monograph the Idea of a Social Science and its Relation to Philosophy. Winch felt that the questions one asks in social science are closer to philosophy that hard science and that methodology cannot be appropriated whole from one field to be used in another. The authors do not reject the use of rigorous standards but they do advocate another look Winch's views, which they feel have been misunderstood. Noting the plethora of methodologies in the field today, they argue for a return to the basics, as stated in Winch, in order to reassess the ways in which social science is perceived and practiced. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Phil Hutchinson, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, Rupert Read, Reader in Philosophy, University of East Anglia, UK and Wes Sharrock, Professor of Sociology, University of Manchester, UK.