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(Originally published in John A. Hall & Ian C. Jarvie's [Eds], Transition to Modernity, 1992 [see abstract 93c01707].) Ernest Gellner's criticism of the Oxford school of ordinary language philosophy (Words and Things, a Critical Account of Linguistic Philosophy and a Study in Ideology [1959]) is buttressed by his defense of an empirical positivism built on the work of Immanuel Kant & Karl Popper. Gellner's sociological works can all be construed as philosophical works that endorse positivism. Gellner borrows from Paul Fayerabend the argument that science is not a content-free methodology, but a substantive moral commitment. Gellner thinks that such a commitment is unavoidable in modern society; his reasons for believing in this unavoidability are defended. Empiricism is argued to be highly plausible, & sociology to be adept at making sense of social practice. The difference between modern & premodern societies' worldviews is emphasized. The neutrality of scientific language continues its inexorable expansion. Positivism is not dependent on an other-worldly justification. The problem of a philosophy of experience is considered, & the Socratic method is offered as a solution. 11 References. H. von Rautenfeld

Interrogates Marxist interpretations of rationality, which make contradictory ontological & epistemological demands, to examine central themes of 19th- & 20th-century philosophy of science: the tension between the empirical & analytical & between empiricism & construction; emancipation through empiricism; the "dialecticity" of the dialectic; the problem of finalizable theory; & the conflict between science & politics. A conceptualization of theory as practice is advanced as a means to avoid the danger of totalization posed by philosophical generalization. It is argued that generalization leads to identification of a system with one truth, hindering the democratization of knowledge, which comes from thinking about other possible worlds. The lesson of Marxist theory for science is that the freedom of pluralism & the critical spirit can stand against the triumph of a single philosophical system that leaves philosophy perplexed by its own defeat. 67 References. E. Blackwell

Ernest Gellner's attraction to the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski's functionalist empiricism is attributed to their shared philosophical stance & political outlook. It is suggested that there is an inconsistency between the empiricism that Gellner admired in Malinowski's work & the idealist terms in which Gellner himself presented Central & Eastern Europe. Gellner largely ignored the critical assessments of the Malinowskian tradition in anthropology, which have their roots in Ludwig Wittgenstein's influence on social science, an influence that Gellner deplored. What attracted Gellner to Malinowksi was his ability to present scientific accounts of concrete sociological realities, but when Gellner undertook a study of Eastern Europe, he imposed external concepts such as "civil society" & "totalitarianism" that did not help in understanding these societies. Gellner demonstrated the need to resist the substitution of values for the empirical social scientific methods. 43 References. H. von Rautenfeld

"Global Masculinities, Femininities, and Sexualities" published on by Oxford University Press.

"Mill's Method of Agreement and Method of Difference as Methods of Analysis in International Relations" published on by Oxford University Press.

In considering the timeless question of the scientific or epistemological status of social research, focus is on such research's predictive & explanatory failures. Four levels of social science analysis are identified: (1) contingency based, low on prediction & high on empiricism, (2) epistemic or ontological, (3) sociology of knowledge, & (4) historical or political. Assumptions underlying the conduct of social research are examined. Social sciences are distinguished from policy sciences, though points of relatedness are noted. It is concluded that the social sciences must develop a scientific approach to their own history, methods, theories, goals, & presuppositions if they are to be viable in the 21st century. K. Hyatt Stewart