Explanation, Narrative, and Understanding in the Social Sciences

Explanation has been one of the central issues in the philosophy of science. Recently it has been an increasing interest in narrative and understanding. The significance of narrative in scientific practice was re-assessed, while the nature of scientific understanding has been extensively examined. Still, to a great extent, recent discussions on explanation, narrative, and understanding are framed in the context of the natural sciences, despite that they all play important roles in social science research. This conference aims to examine the notions of explanation, narrative, and understanding in social science by bringing together philosophers and social scientists.The questions to be addressed include but are not limited to:

• What is understanding in the social sciences?
• Can the main accounts of scientific understanding be fruitfully applied to the social sciences?
• What role does narrative play in the social sciences?
• What is the relation of explanation, narrative, and understanding in the social sciences? 

Organizing committee

• Keith Chan
• Fons Dewulf
• Giulio Ongaro
• Yafeng Shan (chair)
• Qinyi Wang

Keynote Speakers

• Isaac Ariail Reed (University of Virginia)
• Paul. A. Roth (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Venue

The conference will be held in the Academic Building, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Funders
School of Humanities and Social Science, HKUST
The Asian Philosophy of Science Association

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to Qinyi Wang ([email protected]).

For more information, see https://www.shanyafeng.com/explanation-narrative-and-explanation-in-the-social-sciences-conference-hk-2025.html.