The course deals with Western, African and Asian philosophical thoughts which have shaped and have the potential to shape social science research and practice. It traces the development of various philosophical points of view about knowledge, sources of knowledge and schools of thought, knowledge generation and research. Among the issues to be discussed are: nature of science; theory of science; the scientific enterprise; theories of knowledge, ontology (the being of things) and methodology (ways of doing things); worldviews or cosmology and sources of knowledge. Focus will be placed on selected philosophers in Western thought such as St. Augustine, Plato, John S. Mill, John Locke, Hume, Kant, Berkley; and on Wiredu, Gyekye and Confucius. Schools of thought which have influenced social science research: e.g. positivism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, existentialism, feminist epistemology, epicurean thought, Marxist thought (socialism), cosmological and ontological arguments, justice; selected Eastern (Indo-Chinese) thought; and Africa cosmology of life; and ethics in research will be discussed.  Emphasis will be on implications of these thoughts for knowledge generation and for research.

Objectives: The objectives of this course are to:

• Build the capacity of students to understand philosophical thoughts which have shaped social science research and practice;
• Equip students with critical thinking and analytical skills in social science research; and
• Develop the reasoning skills of students towards social science research.

 Mode of Delivery: The course will be delivered through assigned readings, individual and group assignments and presentations in class.