Can Analytical Sociology Do without Methodological Individualism?

Abstract

The explanatory power of structures in analytical sociologists’ agent-based models brings into question methodological individualism. We defend that (a) from an explanatory point of view, the syntactic properties of models require semantic conditions of interpretation drawn from a conceptual research framework; (b) in such a framework, social/relational structures have only partial, explanatory power (counterfactual); and (c) taking the explanation further through generative mechanism modeling necessitates calling upon methodological individualism’s generic framework of interpretation that relies on social actors’ rational capacity. According to this interpretive framework, forces in action in society are governed by the subjective meaning of/the reasons for individual actions.