Deconstruction is yet another form of critique in the social sciences, one inspired by the work of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida and by postmodernism more generally. Deconstruction is the procedure in which that which is hidden in an entity (such as a category or a social formation) is brought to light and shown to be part of the entity, even though it was ostensibly something antithetical to it. For example, the category “heterosexual,” and a social order based on this category, might rest on a contrast between heterosexuality and homosexuality, in which the latter is typically conceived as defective. But deconstruction might show that heterosexual identity is in fact parasitically dependent on homosexuality, even as the former tries to exclude or subordinate the latter—indeed, it might show that the difference between these two terms is constitutive of their meaning and, thus, that homosexuality is a hidden aspect of the identity of heterosexuals. What is true for the opposition between heterosexuality and homosexuality may also be true for other antinomies: white versus black, colonizer versus colonized, sane versus mad, or saved versus damned.
The assessment of rationality or the coherence of schemes of meaning (including ideology critique and deconstruction) raise questions about the objectivity of social science. How do social scientists go about assessing rationality or coherence in a way that avoids simply judging others on the basis of the scientist’s own predilections? Of course, questions about objectivity arise even if assessments of rationality and coherence play no essential role in the social sciences, for the simple reason that social science investigates phenomena that include the social scientists themselves and that often have close bearing on their own values and on what they hope or fear for themselves and their fellow humans. Questions about the conditions and nature of objectivity are thus a central concern of the philosophy of social sciences. Brian Fay
Citation Information
Article Title: Philosophy of social science
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 11 June 2017
URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-social-science
Access Date: August 27, 2019