Published by the MIT Press
Ron Sun (ed.)
A General Description of the
Book
This book is aimed at exploring the cognitive
(psychological) basis of the social sciences and the possibilities of grounding
the social sciences in cognition (psychology). The result will be what I call
cognitive social sciences (or cognitively based social sciences) --- an
integrative intellectual enterprise (see detailed justifications in the
introductory chapter).
The cognitive sciences have made tremendous strides in
recent decades. In particular, computational cognitive modeling (i.e.,
computational psychology; Sun, 2008; Thagard, 1996) has changed the ways in
which cognition/psychology is explored and understood in many profound
respects. There have been many models of cognition/psychology proposed in the cognitive
sciences (broadly defined), leading to detailed understanding of many
cognitive/psychological domains and functionalities. Empirical psychological
research has also progressed to provide us with much better understanding of
many psychological phenomena.
Given the advances in the cognitive sciences, can we
leverage the successes for the sake of better understanding social processes
and phenomena? More fundamentally, can the cognitive sciences (including
experimental cognitive psychology, computational psychology, social-personality
psychology, developmental psychology, cultural psychology, psycholinguistics,
philosophy of mind, cognitive neuroscience, and so on) provide a better
foundation for important disciplines of the social sciences (sociology,
anthropology, economics, political science, ethics, as well as some
"humanity" fields: history, literary studies, communication, legal
studies, religious studies, and so on)?
Thus far, although very much a neglected topic, there
nevertheless have been various efforts at exploring this topic. Some of the
efforts were computationally motivated (see, e.g., Sun, 2006: "Cognition
and Multi-Agent Interaction", published by Cambridge University Press).
Some other efforts were more empirical or theoretical in nature (see, e.g,
Turner, 2001: "Cognitive Dimensions of Social Science", published by
Oxford University Press).
There are both theoretical and practical rationales for
developing "cognitive social sciences" (see, e.g., Turner, 2001; Sun,
2006; DiMaggio, 1997; Camerer, 2003; Tetlock and Goldgeier, 2000). We contend
that the social sciences may find their future in the cognitive sciences (at
least in part), which may well lead to a powerful and productive combined
intellectual enterprise. This combination or grounding may provide the social
sciences with imaginative scientific research programs,
hybridization/integration, new syntheses, novel paradigms/frameworks, and so
on, beside providing the cognitive sciences with new data sources and problems
to address.
This volume will include all major work in this direction,
written by the best experts in various fields of the social sciences and the
cognitive sciences. It is expected that the book will be the definitive work in
this area for years to come.
We need to achieve a proper balance between breadth and
depth. For each chapter, we aim to combine the rigor and depth of a research
article with the breadth and appeal of a handbook chapter.
The unifying theme is: a broad unification of social and
cognitive sciences through “grounding” of the social sciences in the cognitive
sciences --- broadly construed and broadly inclusive. (In particular, this book
will not be limited to computational approaches, or to any other specific
methodology.)
The book has chapters on a range of topics, carefully
selected to capture the full range of issues in a wide selection of social
sciences areas/fields. Thus, for example, someone from behavioral economics
could pick up the book to see what related work is being done in different
social sciences areas/disciplines.
Table of Content
Part One.
Introduction.
The first part
will provide an overview of the theme of the book, and present some general
background and some theoretical arguments in support of the theme of the book.
Part Two.
Culture.
The second
part will include a number of chapters on the issue of culture and how it may
be “grounded” (at least in part) in cognition (psychology).
Part Three.
Politics.
The third part
will include a number of chapters on politics and international relations and
how they may be understood from a cognitive (psychological) perspective.
Part Four.
Religion.
The fourth
part will include chapters on religion and how religion may be better understood
through cognition (psychology).
Part Five.
Economics.
The fifth part
will cover economics and its relation to cognition (psychology).
Part Six.
Unifying Perspectives.
This part will
present some overarching, unifying perspectives related to the theme of the
book, to provide broader views of the fields and to stimulate further research.
Ordering the book from MIT Press