PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

The overall aim of the course is to provide a foundation in critical thinking that can serve as a useful guide in the fields of science and politics. More specifically, the two main objectives of the course are: 1) to propose an epistemological model for the scientific explanation of social, economic, historical and political phenomena, drawing on the traditions of critical rationalism, fallibilist epistemology, methodological individualism, hermeneutics and social evolutionism. In this way, the aim is to provide students with conceptual tools that will enable them to develop a critical capacity to distinguish (especially in the social sciences) scientific theories from other forms of knowledge and to investigate social, economic, historical and political phenomena objectively; 2) to analyse the epistemological foundations of the ‘open society’ and the gnoseological foundations of democracy understood as a community of critical discussion. The aim is to provide a useful perspective for an epistemological defence of democracy and for an adequate understanding of the risks and opportunities presented by new mechanisms of opinion formation in the digital environment. More specifically, the aim is to outline the profile of critical thinking required for democracy to meet the challenge of adapting to the digital environment in a globalised world.

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At the end of the course, students will be able to: a) understand how to test a scientific explanatory hypothesis; b) distinguish a scientific theory from an ideological or philosophical interpretation; c) distinguish a scientific prediction from a prophecy or a wishful statement; d) identify possible ideological interpretations present in historiographical, sociologi-cal, economic, or political science theories; e) objectively reconstruct the meaning of a text; f) understand the rational mechanisms underlying subjective decisions; g) understand the mechanisms governing the evolution of macro-social phenomena; h) identify epistemological threats to democracy and freedom; i) possess critical tools to better navigate the deregulated cognitive marketplace of the digital environment characterized by overinformation.

1. Scientific explanation in the social sciences The first part of the course will be devoted to analysing the logical structure of scien-tific theories and the tools for their logical and empirical testing. Particular attention will be paid to the issue of the logical asymmetry between verification and falsifica-tion, with the aim of highlighting the logical foundations of Popper’s unified ‘pro-blems-theories-criticisms’ method. Following this perspective, we will investigate the epistemological reasons underpinning the anti-dogmatic approach to the critical search for truth, both within and outside science. An examination of the nomological-deductive model and methodological individualism will enable us to define the epis-temological structure of the explanation of social phenomena, based on the principle of causality, the theory of rationality, and the notion of unintended consequences of intentional human actions. Particular emphasis will be placed on the paradigm of ‘inductive knowledge’ in the social sciences, highlighting how it follows the logic of abduction, which is nothing other than a form of ‘hermeneutic knowledge’ based on the principle of causality. The discussion of the notion, proposed by H.-G. Gadamer, of the ‘hermeneutic circle’ will enable an understanding of the cognitive process that allows one to arrive at an objective interpretation of any text. 2. Critical Thinking and Democracy in the Digital Age and a Globalised World The second part of the course will be devoted to exploring, using the tools developed in previous lessons, the link between democracy and critical thinking. Starting from Popper’s distinction between the ‘open society’ and the ‘closed society’, we will examine the main ‘invisible genes’ that make democracy possible: the defence of the human person, epistemological fallibilism, ethical relativism, autonomy of judgement, and critical capacity. We will demonstrate how this approach enables an effective theore-tical defence of democracy and freedom. In relation to the autonomy of judgement and critical capacity that homo democraticus must necessarily possess, we will examine the effects of the deregulation of the cognitive market within the digital environment, characterised by a radical change in the subjects, means and procedures of produc-tion and circulation of information intended to shape public opinion. We will em-phasise how some of the epistemological tools developed during the lectures can serve as a resource for enhancing the critical abilities and autonomy of judgement of the homo democraticus, and thus enable democracy to meet the challenge of the digital age. Finally, special attention will be given to the contribution that the humanities and social sciences can make to fostering critical thinking and thus to defending de-mocracy, particularly in the global digital environment.

E. Di Nuoscio, Metodo scientifico e pensiero critico. Epistemologia delle scienze sociali, Mondadori, Milano, 2026

Lessons and seminars

Written exam

Strong interest in the subject