Mundos plausibles, mundos alternativos: Posibilidad y comprensión en la historia y en las ciencias sociales (Psicología / Filosofía)

Possibilities haunt history. The force of our explanations of events turns on the alternative possibilities those explanations suggest. It is these possible worlds that give us our understanding; and in human affairs, we decide them by practical rather than theoretical judgment. In this widely acclaimed account of the role of counterfactuals in explanation, Geoffrey Hawthorn deploys extended examples to defend his argument. His conclusions cast doubt on existing assumptions about the nature and place of theory, and indeed of the possibility of knowledge itself, in the human sciences. Fundamental questions about the nature of causal explanation as conducted by historians and social scientists are raised in this exploration of counterfactual speculation or what-might-have-been. Its pursuit casts doubt on existing assumptions about the roles of theory as well as knowledge. 'Mundos plausibles, Mundos Alternativos' es us original estudio sobre el papel que juegan los juicios contrafcticos en la historia y en las ciencias sociales. It can be tempting to play what E. H. Carr called 'parlour-games with might-have-beens'.