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  • © 2014

Rethinking the Individualism-Holism Debate

Essays in the Philosophy of Social Science

  • Introduces and covers the newest developments in the individualism/holism debate
  • Offers the most recent collection of papers on this topic, since 1973
  • Presents papers by key figures within the debate, from both philosophy and social science
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Synthese Library (SYLI, volume 372)

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vi
  2. Introduction

    • Julie Zahle, Finn Collin
    Pages 1-14
  3. Ontological Individualism-Holism

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15
    2. Social Entities and the Basis of Their Powers

      • Dave Elder-Vass
      Pages 39-53
    3. Three Issues in Social Ontology

      • Philip Pettit
      Pages 77-96
    4. Collective Responsibility and Group-Control

      • András Szigeti
      Pages 97-116
    5. Rethinking Micro-Macro Relations

      • Petri Ylikoski
      Pages 117-135
  4. Methodological Individualism-Holism

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 137-137
    2. Structure, Agency, and Improvisation

      • Mark Risjord
      Pages 219-236
    3. Are Individuals Fickle-Minded?

      • Mathew D. McCubbins, Mark Turner
      Pages 237-252
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 253-255

About this book

This collection of papers investigates the most recent debates about individualism and holism in the philosophy of social science. The debates revolve mainly around two issues: firstly, whether social phenomena exist sui generis and how they relate to individuals. This is the focus of discussions between ontological individualists and ontological holists. Secondly, to what extent social scientific explanations may and should, focus on individuals and social phenomena respectively. This issue is debated amongst methodological holists and methodological individualists.

In social science and philosophy, both issues have been intensively discussed and new versions of the dispute have appeared just as new arguments have been advanced. At present, the individualism/holism debate is extremely lively and this book reflects the major positions and perspectives within the debate. This volume is also relevant to debates about two closely related issues in social science: the micro-macro debate and the agency-structure debate.

This book presents contributions from key figures in both social science and philosophy, in the first such collection on this topic to be published since the 1970s.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Media, Cognition and Communication, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Julie Zahle, Finn Collin

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access