Situations du déterminisme en sciences humaines et sociales

Abstract

The question of determinism is a constant topic in discussions on the epistemological identity, the scope and the future of the humanities and social sciences (HSS). These discussions are never completely resolved and re-emerge from time to time fuelled by internal evolutions as well as by external fields such as biology, the cognitive sciences, philosophy and psychoanalysis. They do not deal uniquely with epistemological, but also with ideological debates; they are often heated and forceful. This paper is an introduction to an overview of some of these discussions.

Keywords

• epistemology
• determinism
• explanation
• causality