The Role of Interpretation and the Understanding of Meaning in the Study of Social Phenomena

FAIN: FR-10198-78

Charles J. Helm
Western Illinois University (Macomb, IL 61455-1390)

To study two central, and related areas in the field of philosophic and historic foundations of the social sciences: 1) a program of reading to examine the implicit conceptions of human nature, needs and wants in several selected theorists; and 2) the writing of articles focusing on the role of interpretation in the analysis of social phenomena. The works of theorists such as Hobbes and Durkheim will be examined. There will also be an examination of the place and role of intentional language in the characterizations of such institutional practices as voting and negotiations.