Theory and Method of Political Science in the Context of Post-empirical Philosophy of Science

Abstract

This article reviews the current Anglo-Saxon tradition of philosophy of science. Logical empiricism, falsificationism and posempiricism are analyzed in light of their similarities and differences regarding notions of theories, statements, terms, method, consistency, performance and control, and in its impact on the field of political science. Posempiricism, emerged in the sixties, is presented as a scenario in which different theories coexist and clash. This scenario allows us to understand science through the traditional logical analysis of theories, but it also opens the gate to psychological, sociological and historical perspectives of science. Then, a theory could only be tested only if an interpretation of empirical data is recognized in it.