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SUMMARY:Nominalism in the social sciences: promises and pitfalls - Ariane 
 Hanemaayer (Brandon University and CRASSH\, Cambridge)
DTSTART:20201202T130000Z
DTEND:20201202T143000Z
UID:TALK153394@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Matt Farr
DESCRIPTION:Nominalism is typically defined in philosophical analysis as a
  metaphysics that rejects the existence of universal and abstract entities
 . It emerged during a period of unrest in medieval Europe in response to c
 riticisms within theology. There is a lesser known set of nominalist commi
 tments\, however\, that have been inflected into social science theories a
 nd practice: a split between words and things\, and the romantic specter o
 f the Will. This presentation discusses work from two forthcoming co-autho
 red projects (with Ronjon Paul Datta\, Windsor) that posit nominalism as t
 he defining commitments of the social sciences. Insufficient attention has
  been paid to these commitments by social theorists and philosophers\, I a
 rgue\, since nominalism offers critical sensibilities while also raising s
 erious questions regarding theoretical coherence. I discuss two key classi
 cal theoretical terrains and conclude with the normative pitfalls of holdi
 ng nominalist commitments.
LOCATION:Zoom
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