Overview

The politicizing of facts and factual claims has led some to abandon all talk of a meaningful distinction between a fact and a strongly held political commitment. This book argues that what we need, instead, are better accounts of facts and their relationship to explanation—ones that take seriously the dependence of facts on communities of practice and on consensus procedures of measurement, but do not abandon the epistemic distinctiveness of facts. Bringing clarity and order to the discussion by disclosing both key commonalities and significant differences between the ways we talk about facts and explanations, Patrick Thaddeus Jackson argues that although intrinsically more contestable than facts, social-scientific explanations can nonetheless be related to them in ways that allow researchers to evaluate explanations based on whether and to what extent they accord with the relevant facts in each situation. Ardently defending a pragmatist account of knowledge that has no patience with either “alternative facts” or “anything goes” relativism, the author develops a set of concepts that enables tricky philosophical problems to be dissolved. After examining facts, causal explanations, and interpretive explanations, the book culminates in an account of the priority of interpretation in the evaluation of any explanation—and any seemingly factual claim. Defining the terms of the debate and grounding better conversations about the issues, this book will appeal to all scholars interested in the philosophy and methodology of the social sciences, international studies, international relations, security studies, and anyone teaching or studying research methods.

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9781032597041

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Jackson’s Facts and Explanations is a must-read for scholars and students, regardless of epistemology or political persuasion. It makes a convincing case that how we claim to know matters as much as, if not more than, what we claim to know. In making this case, Jackson marshals an impressively broad body of literature on knowledge, fact, and science, providing a singular perspective that combines the complexities of hundreds of years of thought and the many conflicting messages of the 21st century in an elegant and parsimonious way. We will all be stronger analysts more capable of navigating international studies ….and beyond for having read this book. - Laura Sjoberg, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK With his usual panache, Patrick Thaddeus Jackson argues convincingly that explanations rely not only on facts, but on general claims that connects those facts and suggest how they may have effects. From now on, MaFGA stands for Making Facts Great Again. - Iver B. Neumann, Director of The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway Patrick Jackson’s new book offers a highly original investigation into three activities which are of fundamental importance for all social sciences: description, causal explanation, and interpretive explanation. Jackson’s style is engaging, and his contentions are thought-provoking, guided by his desire inter alia to facilitate a mutual understanding, on the subject of causal explanation in particular, between neopositivists, faith communities, and those social scientists who broadly share his stance, based on the manipulationist theory of causation. He also provides an insightful discussion about what an interpretive explanation may achieve, informed by his thoughtful engagement with the work of Charles Manning, a foundational member of the so-called ‘English School of International Relations’. - Hidemi Suganami, Aberystwyth University, UK

Jackson’s Facts and Explanations is a must-read for scholars and students, regardless of epistemology or political persuasion. It makes a convincing case that how we claim to know matters as much as, if not more than, what we claim to know. In making this case, Jackson marshals an impressively broad body of literature on knowledge, fact, and science, providing a singular perspective that combines the complexities of hundreds of years of thought and the many conflicting messages of the 21st century in an elegant and parsimonious way. We will all be stronger analysts more capable of navigating international studies ….and beyond for having read this book. - Laura Sjoberg, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK With his usual panache, Patrick Thadeus Jackson argues convincingly that explanations rely not only on facts, but on general claims that connects those facts and suggest how they may have effects. From now on, MAFA stands for Making Facts Great Again. - Iver B. Neumann, Director of The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway Patrick Jackson’s new book offers a highly original investigation into three activities which are of fundamental importance for all social sciences: description, causal explanation, and interpretive explanation. Jackson’s style is engaging, and his contentions are thought-provoking, guided by his desire inter alia to facilitate a mutual understanding, on the subject of causal explanation in particular, between neopositivists, faith communities, and those social scientists who broadly share his stance, based on the manipulationist theory of causation. He also provides an insightful discussion about what an interpretive explanation may achieve, informed by his thoughtful engagement with the work of Charles Manning, a foundational member of the so-called ‘English School of International Relations’. - Hidemi Suganami, Aberystwyth University, UK

Author Information

Patrick Thaddeus Jackson is Professor of International Studies and Chair of the Department of Global Inquiry in the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C. He is the author of one of the foundational (and award-winning) books on philosophy of science in international studies (The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations), and has been working on problems related to knowledge and explanation for much of his career, including developing and teaching multiple courses for both undergraduate and graduate students. For approximately 15 years he also has taught philosophy of science and research design in short-term intensive graduate courses around the world for the European Consortium on Political Research, the International Political Science Association, and MethodsNET.

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