POL380H1 Lecture Notes - Paradigm Shift, Security Studies, Normal Science
8 Aug 2013
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Document Summary
Social sciences are nomothetic: seek to develop generalizble theories of the behaviour of actors within a system. T2 explains things that t1 cannot explain. T2 is more parsimonious , if it can explain the same outcomes in a simpler fashion. In international relations (international security) usually compare and contrast theories. Paradigms contains bundled set of ontological assumptions, cannot empirically prove them cause it is theoretical: ontology; a systematic account of existence; or the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality. We say that an agent commits to an ontology if its observable actions are consistent with the definitions in the ontology. Security ontology security as concept has been termed essentially contested ; so laden with different assumptions/normative values/ideas that it makes it impossible to create a simple understanding. Why a conceptual analysis of security: central to explanations of behaviour. If you can"t specify casual mechanism you are making a casual inferences about spurious relationships.
