Drawing extensively on the research findings of natural and social sciences both in America and Europe, Reframing the Social argues for a critical realist and systemist social ontology, designed to shed light on current debates in social theory concerning the relationship of social ontology to practical social research, and the nature of 'the social'. It explores the works of the systems theorist Mario Bunge in comparison with the approach of Niklas Luhmann and critical social systems theorists, to challenge the commonly held view that the systems-based approach is holistic in nature and necessarily downplays the role of human agency. Theoretically sophisticated and investigating the work of a theorist whose work has until now received insufficient attention in Anglo-American thought, this book will be of interest to those working in the field of social theory, as well as scholars concerned with philosophy of social science, the project of analytical sociology, and the nature of the relationship between the natural and social sciences.

Over 3,300 total pages …. Introduction: The National Intelligence University is the Intelligence Community’s sole accredited, federal degree-granting institution. The main campus is located in Bethesda, MD and it also has Academic Centers located around the world. The faculty of NIU are subject matter experts from around the intelligence community who bring a wealth of knowledge and practical experience, as well as academic qualifications, to the classroom. Included titles: BRINGING INTELLIGENCE ABOUT Practitioners Reflect on Best Practices ANTICIPATING SURPRISE Analysis for Strategic Warning Learning With Professionals: Selected Works from the Joint Military Intelligence College THE CREATION OF THE NATIONAL IMAGERY AND MAPPING AGENCY: CONGRESS’S ROLE AS OVERSEER The Coast Guard Intelligence Program Enters the Intelligence Community A Case Study of Congressional Influence on Intelligence Community Evolution THE BLUE PLANET INFORMAL INTERNATIONAL POLICE NETWORKS AND NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE TEACHING INTELLIGENCE AT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES SHAKESPEARE FOR ANALYSTS: LITERATURE AND INTELLIGENCE Out of Bounds: Innovation and Change in Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis Managing the Private Spies Use of Commercial Augmentation for Intelligence Operations Intelligence Professionalism in the Americas Y: The Sources of Islamic Revolutionary Conduct GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM: ANALYZING THE STRATEGIC THREAT SENSEMAKING - A STRUCTURE FOR AN INTELLIGENCE REVOLUTION Finding Leaders Preparing the Intelligence Community for Succession Management EXPERIENCES TO GO: TEACHING WITH INTELLIGENCE CASE STUDIES Democratization of Intelligence Crime Scene Intelligence An Experiment in Forensic Entomology BENEATH THE SURFACE INTELLIGENCE PREPARATION OF THE BATTLESPACE for COUNTERTERRORISM A FLOURISHING CRAFT: TEACHING INTELLIGENCE STUDIES INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS IN THEATER JOINT INTELLIGENCE CENTERS: AN EXPERIMENT IN APPLYING STRUCTURED METHODS The Common Competencies for State, Local, and Tribal Intelligence Analysts

Biology and history are often viewed as closely related disciplines, with biology informed by history, especially in its task of charting our evolutionary past. Maximizing the opportunities for cross-fertilization in these two fields requires an accurate reckoning of their commonalities and differences—precisely what this volume sets out to achieve. Specially commissioned essays by a team of recognized international researchers cover the full panoply of topics in these fields and include notable contributions on the correlativity of evolutionary and historical explanations, applying to history the latest causal-mechanical approach in the philosophy of biology, and the question of generalized laws that might pertain across the two subjects. The collection opens with a vital interrogation of general issues on explanation that apart from potentially fruitful areas of interaction (could the etiology of the causal-mechanical perspective in biology account for the historical trajectory of the Roman Empire?) this volume also seeks to chart relative certainties distinguishing explanations in biology and history. It also assesses techniques such as the use of probabilities in biological reconstruction, deployed to overcome the inevitable gaps in physical evidence on early evolution. Methodologies such as causal graphs and semantic explanation receive in-depth analysis. Contributions from a host of prominent and widely read philosophers ensure that this new volume has the stature of a major addition to the literature. ​

Presents a series of essays based on dialogues that have recently opened between Cuban archaeologists & their international colleagues.

Is philosophy dead? Some philosophers have declared it to be so, and judging by some of the mental acrobatics now fashionable in postmodernist circles a reasonable person might have to agree. Though recognizing the moribund state of current academic philosophy, Mario Bunge feels that this is a crisis from which the discipline can and will recover. To overcome the impasse Bunge argues that it is necessary to reconstruct philosophy by building a philosophical system that addresses real-world problems of everyday people in a clear, comprehensible fashion. The new system must be exact and compatible with contemporary science and technology. Above all, it should shun purely academic problems. This book offers glimpses of such a system while avoiding technical jargon unfamiliar to the lay reader. It is thus accessible to the average educated reader interested in such perennial philosophical concerns as What is matter?, What is mind?, What is the nature of society?, Are there limits to our knowledge?, What are the criteria for distinguishing genuine science from pseudoscience?, and How should human rights be balanced with moral obligations? These questions will always be of interest to thinking human beings, says Bunge, and philosophy, rather than becoming a fruitless, self-referential academic game, should be the main intellectual tool for exploring and clarifying such all important issues.