Математика как инструмент социальных исследований: к новому пониманию социальной реальности

Abstract

The article explores the current state of mathematization in the social sciences and social applied analytics. Mathematics in social sciences and in social analytics represents the set of instrumental methods that help to obtain results, in contradiction to understanding of mathematics as critical doubt (the requirement of rigor as a doubt of methods correctness). In social sciences and analytics the results are obtained, not critically reasoning. Mathematics in social research is understood as useful methods, and not as theories that ensure the rigor of the application of mathematical methods. The understanding of the object of mathematics that is elaborated in social sciences also is far from classical concepts of philosophy of mathematics: mathematical objects as ideal entities, as formal constructions, as a priory synthetic, does not dominate. It is revealed that under the influence of practice of mathematical methods application in social research, the new image of social reality and of social ontology appears. Social reality starting to be understood as measured and the social relations as based on social comparability, because the relations are drawn up from the networks of social actors actions that are possessed by quantitatively comparable rights and responsibilities, values, opinions, beliefs, priorities, etc. Moreover, some researchers believe that for social phenomena that do not have measurable indicators, social reality has not yet formed, it is still amorphous, not homogeneous, has not acquired properties of stability, resistance to disturbing influences. Finally, the applicability of mathematics in social research is pushing researchers toward belief that social ontology, whether or not it is understood in an essentialist way, or in “flat ontology” construction (Bruno Latour), is presented in quantitative forms.