In his recent contributions on this blog (link, link), Daniel Little develops an interesting position advocating the legitimacy and “relative explanatory autonomy” of the meso-level, while maintaining a microfoundations requirement. I am grateful that Daniel invited me to comment on his views and I will try to do so in a concise way, discussing four issues:
- There are more than two levels of social explanation
- Levels of explanation are perspectival; neither absolute, nor unique
- Seeking for microfoundations and macrofoundations as good heuristics.
- Social scientific practice and plurality as objects of study.
UnderstandingSociety
Guest post by Jeroen Van Bouwel: On microfoundations and macrofoundations
Jeroen Van Bouwel | post-doctoral fellow at Ghent University and a visiting scholar in philosophy at Uppsala University
