The origins of the western Uralic s-cases revisited: historiographical, functional-typological and Samoyedic perspectives

The paper presents a comprehensive reappraisal of the origins of the so-called s-cases in Saami, Finnic, Mordvin and Mari. According to the received view, the element *-s- that is present in most of the basic local case markers in these languages originates in the so-called *s-lative whose origin has remained unknown. As the dominant theory suffers from various methodological shortcomings, alternative proposals have also been presented yet largely ignored. As the first functionally and typologically substantiated hypothesis on the issue, the paper proposes that the s-cases originate in Proto-Uralic postpositional phrases. Confronting the daunting task of identifying cognates of the s-cases elsewhere, it is proposed that they can be related to at least the Samoyed local cases with the element *-ntə-

Understanding the norm of self-interest

Peer reviewe

The so-called relation forms of nouns in South Saami: A byproduct or remnant of Uralic *-mpV?

The paper describes a previously little-known grammatical category in South Saami. Termed here as “relation forms”, the phenomenon in question is etymologically related to the comparative and superlative marking of adjectives, but synchronically quite distinct from it. The suffix -be/-åbpoe can be attached to not only adjectives (e.g., nuerebe ‘younger’, båarasåbpoe ‘older’), but also to nouns and kinship terms in particular (e.g., tjidtjebe ‘(the) mother’, vuanavåbpoe ‘(the) mother-in-law’), and the superlative marker -mes/-ommes can be used similarly, albeit to a lesser extent. The paper discusses the position of such forms in South Saami morphology, syntax and sentential semantics, especially in relation to markers of definiteness and possession. From a diachronic perspective, South Saami sheds new light on the origin of the Saami-Finnic (and Hungarian) comparative marker *-mpV, and from a typological point of view, it is proposed that the closest analogues to the Saami phenomenon can be found in Tungusic, which also adds to our understanding of the development of *-mpV comparatives – possibly from a more original contrastive function of the suffix

Harry Collins and the Crisis of Expertise

Non peer reviewe

Micro, Macro, and Mechanisms

This article, which takes a fresh look at micro–macro relations in the social sciences from the point of view of the mechanistic account of explanation, introduces the distinction between causal and constitutive explanation. It then discusses the intentional fundamentalism, and challenges the idea that intentional explanations have a privileged position in the social sciences. A mechanism-based explanation describes the causal process selectively. The properties of social networks serve both as the explananda and the explanantia in sociology. Knowledge of the causal mechanisms is vital in the justification of historical causal claims. The intentional attitudes of individuals are also important in most mechanism-based explanations of social phenomena. It is important to pay closer attention to how real macro social facts figure in social scientific theories and explanations.Peer reviewe

Process-Tracing Methods: Foundations and Guidelines

Book review. Reviewed work: Process-Tracing Methods: Foundations and Guidelines / by Derek Beach, Rasmus Brun Pedersen. - Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780472051892.Non peer reviewe

Review of Individuals and Identity in Economics by John B. Davis

Book review. Reviewed work: Individuals and Identity in Economics / John B. Davis. - Cambridge University Press, 2011.Non peer reviewe

Understanding the Coleman boat

Peer reviewe

Comment on Naturalizing Critical Realist Social Ontology

This comment discusses Kaidesoja (2013) and raises the issue whether his analysis justifies stronger conclusions than he presents in the book. My com- ments focus on four issues. First, I argue that his naturalistic reconstruction of critical realist transcendental arguments shows that transcendental arguments should be treated as a rare curiosity rather than a general argumentative strategy. Second, I suggest that Kaidesoja’s analysis does not really justify his optimism about the usefulness of causal powers ontology in the social sciences. Third, I raise some doubts about the heuristic value of Mario Bunge’s social ontology that Kaidesoja presents as a replacement for critical realist ontology. Finally, I propose an alternative way to analyze failures of aggregativity that might better serve Kaidesoja’s purposes than the Wimsattian scheme he employs in the book.Non peer reviewe