Stephen Turner and the Philosophy of the Social

Book excerpt: In this volume, the philosophical writings of Stephen Turner on social science and the social are examined critically in essays by major scholars in philosophy and sociology from all over Europe and the United States. The topics covered include his intellectual trajectory and issues over the concepts of practices, the belief-desire model of action explanation, normativity, and collectivities. These issues form the core of the philosophy of social science and are central to the history of the social sciences. In addition, there are substantive discussions of the relation of cognitive science to economics and Weber, of ethnography, and of the legacy of Talcott Parsons. The volume includes Turner’s response to these essays, which also presents a synthesis and retrospective overview. With contributions by Christopher Adair-Toteff, Alban Bouvier, David Henderson, John Holmwood, Terence Horgan, Peter Olen, Mark Risjord, Paul Roth, Theodore R. Schatzki, Karsten Stueber, Sam Whimster, Rafał Wierzchosławski and Julie Zahle; as well as Stephen Turner himself.