Making Change Intelligible: Why The Study of Human Kinds Is Just Science As Usual

This paper challenges the notion that the social sciences require a fundamentally different methodology from the natural sciences due to the interactivity of human kinds. By examining the concept of classificatory looping and its impact on human kinds, the author argues that understanding the causal pathways and utilizing behavioral science can offer reliable generalizations about human kinds. The paper presents examples such as the Buraku of Japan and African Americans to demonstrate how behavioral science can be employed to predict changes in properties of social groups. It posits that the social sciences can operate in a manner similar to the natural sciences by examining generic human tendencies that hold broadly across diverse social contexts. This exploration ultimately supports the unity thesis, emphasizing that social sciences can indeed gain a scientific understanding of human kinds comparable to the knowledge offered by natural sciences.