Functionalism, reductionism and cumulative systems. What kind of analytical social theory do we need?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/ris.2011.03.28Keywords:
Agent-based models, Functional Explanation, Mechanisms, Middle-range theories, Theory of actionAbstract
Functional explanation has been regarded as a wrong kind of explanation in the social sciences, since it does not provide micro-foundations of social explanandum. This article suggests that the analytical explanation of certain social processes (“cumulative processes”) requires both the formulation of self-regulation hypothesis and the provision of mechanisms based on a reductionist, non-intentional, conception of action. These are, however, the main features of a right functional explanation.
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