Name:Orizu Precious 
Matric No: 19/law01/223
Dept: Law
Course:History and 


Chapter 8:Philosophy of Social Science (And Applied Science)


      In this chapter it was said that the success recorded in natural science in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was enormous on the social and intellectual life of the then people of Europe that they started trusting the word of the scientist to the extent that they even consulted scientist about matters not related to Science. The change in socio-cultural  milieu of the time explains why the application of science to any issue is called positivism. The socio-cultural milieu  in which positivism grew is called renaissance and the enlightenment period. The aeon prior to the renaissance period was called dark age because it was the time religious belief regained supreme. The word of the Pope was final authority on any matter.
     Romanticism gave rise to humanism and naturalism and work of art and literature produced at this time were also regarded to as classic Bertrand Russell put this more succinctly when he said that”the period of history which is commonly called Modern has a mental outlook that differ from medieval period in many ways. The effect of that maneuvering was over whelming. Scientific approach to things grew out of philosophical approach to issue,but science was restricted to study of natural phenomena because it was only material that was believed to behave in a regular and predictable way not until a French social philosopher called August Comte thought otherwise. August Comte is the father of sociology and social science.   
       Positivism rejects theoretical speculation that are not based on facts of experience as a means of obtaining knowledge.
       Social science is an area of study dedicated to explanations of human behavior interactions and manifestation either as an individual in a society. Some discipline in social science includes sociology,philosophy,economics,etc. social science seeks to teach the methods of science in investigation of social phenomena taking humans as an object of study. The objective of such endeavors include:
	•	 Understanding humans in both historical and cultural development context and factors responsible for the development,
	•	 Being able to predict human behavior based on the pattern of interaction,belief system,social norms and other factors influencing humans behavior.
	•	Influencing human behavior,grooming it towards a socially desirable conduct 
	•	Discovering and manipulating if possible,the laws governing most human behavior 
	•	And advancing beyond armchair philosophy the knowledge about the characteristics temperament and associated behavior of a person or group.

One way solve problem is to accept reasons are not causes but motive or intent. Another problem is that,if reasons are causes some scholars like j.s.mill.t.m Newcombe and August Comte have argued on whether it is not better to leave reason as motive drive orient and not causes. There are also some other scholars who insist that reasons can be treated as causes one of such scholars is Robins Collingwood reason are not only causes but they are ultimate casual power which lies in human and that ascribing casual powers to inanimate objects.
      Another problem with the project of social science is that according to max weber methodology of science becomes inapplicable object study in social science is man. A rational being with desire and emotions and other scientific features that comes into play in his action or reaction. Now if a supposed scientific law is neither absolute nor holds quite often should we continue to call it scientific law of economics.