Читать книгу Twentieth-Century Philosophy of Science: A History (Third Edition) - Thomas J. Hickey - Страница 17

Romantics maintain that only “theory” that describes subjective motives can “explain” conscious human action.

Motives are the “mechanisms” identified in “causal” explanations, which are also therefore called “theoretical” explanations. Observed regularities are deemed incapable of “explaining”, even if they enable correct predictions.

Some formerly romantic social scientists such as the Institutionalist economist Wesley Mitchell and the functionalist sociologist Robert Merton have chosen to focus on objective outcomes rather than subjective motives.