International Relations. A self-Study Guide to Theory

particular (the statements to be explained, the explanandum). A scientific ex-
planation here is a deductive argument that shows that a particular event is 

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“covered” under a general law (nomos in Greek). The model is also known as 
the “covering law model” or “subsumption theory”. 
It has been complemented by the inductive-statistical model of explana-
tion. In this model, explanations for an event fall under a statistical law. Sta-
tistical or probabilistic laws are established inductively (that is, by inferring 
from single events to a general law, going from the concrete to the abstract) 
and are used to show how, given the established law, a specific event is high-
ly likely (Smith 1996: 15). 
From what has been said about the causal, law-like nature of a positivist 
explanation, it follows clearly that positivist science holds the fundamental 
belief that prediction is possible. An account of explanation as a temporally 
linked relation of cause and effect enables prediction: if A, then B.
Given the existence of other epistemologies such as hermeneutics, which 
claim that the social world requires a different form of analysis than the natural 
world, it is easy to conclude that there will be other notions of explanation in 
the social sciences. For example, Max Weber argues along these lines against 
the positivists, stating that to explain human behavior, not only are its external 
manifestations required (observables), but also knowledge of the underlying 
motivation. From this argument stems Weber’s definition of sociology as a sci-
ence which aims to produce an interpretative understanding of social behavior 
in order to gain an explanation of that behavior’s causes and effects. For We-
ber, interpretative understanding is a preliminary step towards causal relation. 
However, Weber holds that, in order to be considered a scientific explanation, 
any interpretative explanation must first become causal. Understanding and 
causal explanation invariably belong together as methods in the social sciences 
(Weber 1949). The example of hermeneutics should briefly demonstrate that 
there are different stances as to what counts as a scientific explanation. You 
will learn about these different models of explanation in Part II of this book. 
Based on the example of positivism, you may now have the impression 
that philosophy of science is an incredibly abstract and complex field. How-
ever, if you think about it, philosophy of science in fact forms an intrinsic