Causal pluralism is increasingly gaining interest as a promising alternative for monistic approaches toward causation. However, although the debate is scarcely out of the egg, the term “causal pluralism” already covers diverse meanings. This creates confusion, and to remedy that confusion, it is necessary to discern different kinds of pluralistic approaches to causation and different possible p...

We examined a central assumption of recent theories: that social utility is contingent on impressions of other people. We manipulated participants’ impression of the other player in a prisoners’ dilemma. We then measured participants’ own preferences in the PD, their estimates of the other player’s preferences in the PD, their prediction of the other player’s move, and their own move. We hypoth...

On the face of it, the idea of formal re-inquiry has clear roots in positivism, in the idea that social science is a progressive enterprise of rejecting falsehood and building truth. Either qualitative or quantitative methodology can be part of the positivist project. Taking a position of pluralism in the militant middle, I argue that both positivism and humanism have a great deal to offer cons...

Santa Muerte is one of the fastest growing folk saint movements in Mexico. She has a core following in Mexico among dispossessed populations, but also devotees from a broader swath of the Mexican population. This article analyzes the development of Santa Muerte veneration in Mexico since 2000. I argue that, from a structural analysis perspective, Santa Muerte veneration is on the threshold of d...

The critical theory of society of the Frankfurt School continues to excite interest and controversy. The critical theorists have deeply influenced contemporary social theory, philosophy, communications theory and research, cultural theory, and other disciplines for six decades. The dream of a interdisciplinary social theory continues to animate the sociological imagination. In recent decades th...

In Finland, the theory of social pedagogy is not only fixed to certain philosophies. As a science, social pedagogy is based on open communication across theoretical perspectives. In theory and analy­ sis it might be increasingly sophisticated. It might be questionable to speak about a special Finnish interpretation and theory formation of social peda­ gogy, because there is no unified self­conc...

The standard view in social science and philosophy is that lying does not require the liar's assertion to be false, only that the liar believes it to be false. We conducted three experiments to test whether lying requires falsity. Overall, the results suggest that it does. We discuss some implications for social scientists working on social judgments, research on lie detection, and public moral...