Inquiry into the Ten Paradigms of Contemporary Western Social Science Methodology and Their Relations
Society is developing,and so is the methodology of social science.Contemporary western social science methodology presents a variety of new forms.Among them,positivism,pragmatism,analytic philosophy,rational choice method,conflict theory,hermeneutics,phenomenology,structuralism,postmodernism and social critical theory have great influence and present their own typical characteristics,so they can be called 10 main forms or paradigms.The debates between them involve many problems such as explanation and interpretation,fact and value,law and norm,necessity and freedom,determinism and non-determinism,monism and pluralism,quantitative and qualitative.These 10 paradigms can be roughly divided into two series:the first five form a series,and the last five form another series.The first five are mainly popular in the Anglo-American world,emphasizing the scientific nature of the social sciences'"explaining"and"predicting";The latter five are mainly popular in Germany and France and other continental European countries,and mainly emphasize the unique status and key role of meaning understanding and social criticism in human life and social development.In order to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind,we need to seriously study these new forms of Western social science methodology.This paper tries to make a brief overview of the various new forms of Western social science methodology,in order to focus on their main points and the relationships between them,and to pave the way for the creative transformation of Western social science methodology in Chinese style.
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