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SingaporeKnowledge & InquiryQuick questions
Knowledge in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Quick questions on Explanation versus understanding explained: H2 Knowledge and Inquiry
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the interpretive tradition?Show answer
The interpretive tradition, associated with the idea of Verstehen (understanding), holds that human action is essentially meaningful, and that meaning cannot be captured by causal laws alone. To study human beings is to study creatures who act for reasons, follow rules, and attach significance to what they do. Understanding an action therefore means grasping it from the inside: reconstructing the agent's intentions, reasons and the meaning the act had in its context, so that the action becomes intelligible as the conduct of a rational agent. The aim is intelligibility, not prediction from a law.
What is q1?Show answer
State the covering-law model of explanation and the interpretive (Verstehen) aim, in one sentence each. [6 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain the dispute over whether reasons are causes and why it matters here. [8 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Explain what the double hermeneutic is and why it makes social inquiry distinctive. [6 marks]
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