Kan samhällsvetenskap bara bedrivas på ett sätt?

Authors

• Ralf Helenius

Abstract

Finnish political scientists in the main have too much seemed to accept the leading Galilean and positivist stream in methodology without severly objecting it. A considerable part of the article is devoted to a criticism of traits in the Galilean approach to science as compared with the Aristotelian and critical-hermeneutical approach. A lot of problems, perhaps most of those which consider »real» political or human matters may be better tackled by the last mentioned way of making science. — It is not the author’s aim to plea for one particular approach instead of the dominant one. There should, however, be a continuous debate on methodology and epistemology in order to make even other approaches than the Galilean one accepted among scolars in the field. And there should also be much more systematic training of students. This should not only include techniques but also general aspects of methodological inquiry.