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Article: Early origins of the social sciences.
- Article from:
- Canadian Journal of Sociology
- Article date:
- September 22, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Canadian Journal of Sociology. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The thesis of this book is as ambitious as its scope. Beginning with the pre-Socratic philosophers and ending with Max Weber, McDonald argues that "empiricism" has been unjustly maligned as politically conservative. Her project is to re-analyze the history of social science in order to prove that, throughout the ages, the development of modern empirical research methods has been linked to progressive causes.
To prove her argument, McDonald spends much time trying to explain away right-wing social researchers such as Frederic LePlay, Harriet Martineau, Charles Booth, and Francis Galton. While ignoring or cleansing the conservative politics of many pioneers of ...