Research On Reductionism In Social Science

Social science mainly studies two types of objects,one is the individual and its beliefs,values,choices and actions;the other is social formation or social phenomenon,such as the state,business,law,culture and other social formation or social phenomenon.Can social-level things be reduced to individuals and their actions? If so,how can such a reduction be achieved,what information will be lost in the process of reduction? Thinking about the relationship between the society and the individual is the basic aim of the reductionism.However,as a systematic science,social science is generally regarded as anti-reductionism,this paper does not fully agree with this view.The validity of science is based on the rationality of its interpretation.According to the empiricist,the interpretation of social sciences should also be in line with the facts of experience.In this sense,the reductionism is reasonable.Reductionism is one of the core topics of philosophy of social science.It is of great theoretical value to social science and philosophy of science by reflecting on the applicability of social science,its specific scope of applicability,and the approach of reductionism.This paper consists of the introduction,the text of the three chapters,the conclusion.The Introduction mainly includes the significance and purpose of the topic,the research status of overseas and domestic,the main content and innovation of this paper.The first chapter analyzes and combs the historical background of the reductionism,analyzes the philosophical connotation of the reductionism,and defines the reductionism from the social science perspective.The second chapter summarizes the core debate in the field of social sciences,which is based on the three levels of ontology,epistemology and methodology,on this basis,the 2.2 section makes a brief analysis of the applicability of the reductionism in the social sciences.The third chapter focuses on how to apply reductionism in the social sciences,and introduces two approaches of reductionism.In the concluding part,this paper summarizes the importance of the reductionism to the social sciences,points out the dilemma and the development trend of the reductionism.It is suggested that we should put aside the endless argument between reductionism and anti-reductionism,we should stand in the position of empiricism,try to use a wide range of research paradigm to develop methodology system of social science.