Description
Book SynopsisOffers a searing indictment of the many influential practices in the social sciences and humanities. The author best known for his critique of rational choice theory, argues that scholars have fallen prey to inward-looking myopia that results from - and perpetuates - a flight from reality. He also answers many critics of his views.
Trade Review"In these probing essays ... Ian Shapiro offers a disturbing portrait of contemporary social science... [He] calls for academics to reconnect the academic enterprise to the real world by returning to problem-driven social inquiry--an urging that scholars of international relations and other fields should indeed ponder."--G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs "Have you ever had difficulty talking to a political scientist about politics? If so, this book is for you. In a searing indictment of over-professionalization in the humanities and social sciences, Yale University's Ian Shapiro argues that across disciplines, academics have abandoned truth, so to speak, for method... The Flight from Reality lays the foundation for reengaging scholarship with the historical world, by reminding us of its necessary role in public life."--Tikkun Magazine "[B]oth political scientists and politicians can learn something from Shapiro's thoughtful reflections on the state of his discipline."--Alan Wolff, Chronicle of Higher Education "Shapiro's book is an important addition to recent debates about the proper practice of social inquiry. Its central thesis is undeniably important, and its engagements with influential thinkers and ideas is consistently stimulating. It therefore merits the careful attention of anyone who is interested in the state of the human sciences today."--Keith Topper, Ethics "Shapiro's book provides a very well annotated and fascinating, although not always easy to read, argument framework with easy to express practical implications."--Armando Geller, JASSS
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix INTRODUCTION: Fear of Not Flying 1 CHAPTER ONE: The Difference That Realism Makes: Social Science and the Politics of Consent by Ian Shapiro and Alexander Wendt 19 CHAPTER TWO: Revisiting the Pathologies of Rational Choice by Donald Green and Ian Shapiro 51 CHAPTER THREE: Richard Posner's Praxis 100 CHAPTER FOUR: Gross Concepts in Political Argument 152 CHAPTER FIVE: Problems, Methods, and Theories in the Study of Politics: Or, What's Wrong with Political Science and What to Do about It 178 CHAPTER SIX: The Political Science Discipline: A Comment on David Laitin 204 Index 213
