Methodological individualism as anti-reductionism

Bibliographic Data

ID2404897
AuthorsNathalie Bulle (0000-0001-9134-0681, CNRS, France)
Year2019
Volume19
Issue2
Pages161-184
Publication date2019-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Classical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-795X • E-ISSN: 1741-2897
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1468795x18765536
OpenAlexW2802360024
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited49

The demarcation criterion of methodological individualism is not defined in relation to entities ultimately involved in explanation - individuals to the exclusion of structures - as supposed by its reductionist interpretations. It introduces an epistemological approach that distinguishes between causal powers representing driving forces - they arise from individual (trans-situational) rational capacities - and structural properties which do not exert a causal power but have nevertheless a crucial causal role - they define the situational properties on the basis of which individuals' rational capacities are developed. Whereas the forces in action in society are governed by the subjective meaning of/the reasons for individual actions, social structures have an explanatory or causal role insofar as they affect the subjective meaning of/the reasons for individual actions

Action (physics · Epistemology · Explanatory power · Individualism · Meaning (existential · Methodological individualism · Political science · Rationality · Reductionism · Relation (database · Situational ethics · Sociology · Computer Science · Critical Realism in Sociology · Economic Theory and Institutions · Philosophy and History of Science · Psychology · Philosophy · Social Psychology