Geistewissenschaften? Got Epistemology?

Over the last 7 weeks, you have seen the central concern of the course referred to as the social sciences, human sciences, behavioral sciences, management studies, and organization studies, and in German Geistewissenschaften. Which best describes the focus of our attention and why?

The focus of our attention in this class has been social sciences insofar as we have been able learn about the other sciences and how they explain the human experience. According to Crawford-Muratore (2011) in week two lecture, "Thinkers have since the times of the ancient Greeks explored the basic questions of “What do we know, and how do we know it for sure?” Those who have pursued this as a profession or passion are called epistemologists, and in this class we will look at the epistemologists of the 20^th century. In this manner we begin to understand the evolution of social theory and also management theory, which is a part of the social sciences" (para. 1).

Social sciences is the umbrella under which the other sciences have come to be understood. As Breslin (2011) notes, "This is right in line with the way I view social science and what it deals with.  The course is particularly relevant to the study of management and leadership because both of these study the social world of people" (para. 3). According to the class syllabus, we have engaged in the understanding that the postmodern world is an amalgam of our beliefs, physical sensory interpretations, psychological projections of our wants/needs/fantasies, a cultural interpretation of existence/meaning/purpose, a moral sense of right and wrong, a religious or spiritual interpretation of responsibility, and the sense of the relationship we have to each other. (syllabus, 2011, para. 1)

In relating to the course syllabus, Prince II (1988) discusses the social learning approach and he says that Social Learning Theory is a general approach to understanding how we learn, retain, and eventually choose to perform or not perform any given class of behavior-including moral behavior. Moreover, Prince II (1988) argued, "Indeed, the fundamental approach of social learning theory is based on the recognition that behavior is in large measure determined by situational factors outside the individual. However, the individual is not overlooked and is given the central role in processing the components of the situation in terms of perception, reasoning, memory, an other internal psychological responses" (p. 489).

We as scholars, leaders and practitioners have engaged in this course as budding epistemologists to understand the social sciences.

References

Prince II, H.T. (1990).  Moral development in Individuals. In Wren, J. T. (Ed.), The leader's companion insights on leadership through the ages. (pp. 484-491).  New York, NY: The Free Press. Reprinted from Harvard Business Review.

Crawford-Muratore, J. (2011, February 02).  Week 2 Lecture– Dr. Jane Crawford-Muratore. Message posted to University of Phoenix class forum PHL/717 –Constructing Meaning.

Breslin, E. (2011, March 15).  Week 7 DQ 7.3 – Edward Breslin. Message posted to University of Phoenix class forum PHL/717 –Constructing Meaning.