Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable Session. This panel presents a series of talks centered on how social scientific models shape our thinking about political philosophy. Sahar Heydari Fard deploys network models to explore pathways toward emancipatory social change. She finds that intervening on network topology is a promising way forward. Alexander Schaefer argues against thinking about justice in terms of stable equilibrium models. Real social-political systems are sufficiently complex to undermine arguments in favor of stability. Kirun Sankaran relies on Mark Wilson's theory of concepts to explore what gets lost when political philosophers export standard models of agents in decision problems. He highlights the way this has distorted thinking about power.
Birmingham PSA 2022 office@philsci.orgPhilosophy of Social Science Roundtable Session. This panel presents a series of talks centered on how social scientific models shape our thinking about political philosophy. Sahar Heydari Fard deploys network models to explore pathways toward emancipatory social change. She finds that intervening on network topology is a promising way forward. Alexander Schaefer argues against thinking about justice in terms of stable equilibrium models. Real social-political systems are sufficiently complex to undermine arguments in favor of stability. Kirun Sankaran relies on Mark Wilson's theory of concepts to explore what gets lost when political philosophers export standard models of agents in decision problems. He highlights the way this has distorted thinking about power.