November 4, 2005

Reality in Political Science

By ALAN WOLFE

If you were not one of them, you might think that political scientists follow political events, propose hypotheses designed to explain them, and collect data to test those hypotheses. Alas, or so argues Yale University's Ian Shapiro in his new book, The Flight From Reality in the Human Sciences (Princeton University Press, 2005), that is not always, not even often, the case. In most of the social sciences and humanities, but especially in political science, Shapiro writes, subject matter does

Print Subscription

Digital Subscription

Already have an account? Log In Now.