Call for Proposals for Special Issues of the Philosophy of the Social Sciences

From time to time Philosophy of the Social Sciences publishes special issues or sections of issues.  Characteristically these are a themed symposium, or a cluster of reactions to a recent book.  These special issues are in addition to the regular publication of selections of papers from the meetings of the Roundtable, ENPOSS, and the ANPOSS.  The initiative for these special issues and their execution comes from the organizers and they invariably act as guest editors, assuming all the duties normally carried out by the standing editors of the journal.

We draw attention to this in order to encourage scholars to consider making proposals to us for future special issues.  All sorts of possibilities exist: surveys of the literature and assessments of progress or lack of it; new books and ideas; revisiting classics and classic debates.  Here are few suggestions:

• Does the programme of the Unity of Science survive other than as an historical artefact?
• Why does naturalism get favourable treatment? Is it deserved?
• What role does metaphysics play in the progress (or regress) of the social sciences?
• What happens to refuted social theories? Do they really disappear or do they reappear in a ‘new and improved’ guise?
• Are social technologies simply the application of social scientific theories that may or may not be true? Or are social technologies a source of genuine epistemological innovation?
• Are there any philosophically deep lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for our understanding of the role of expertise in democracies?

We ask colleagues interested in compiling materials for a special issue to send us a prospectus that indicates the central questions to discuss and the names of contributors.  The organizers should be willing to referee and edit the materials on the table time to be agreed.

For information, please contact Dr. Ian Jarvie, Editor of Philosophy of the Social Sciences (jarvie@yorku.ca).