I would like to summarize my position on that crucial issue. In order to
accomplish this task, I believe it is necessary to review certain historical
developments, such as Vico's reaction to Descartes regarding the social
basis of rationality, as well as reviewing the idea of causation as set
forth in the Hume-Kant contributions of the 18th century.

A major thesis is that the epistemologies utilized by social scientists
encompassing behavioral, cognitive, and historical analyses are com-
plimentary rather than contradictory. In order to demonstrate this, the
historical underpinnings of social psychological epistemologies and an
argument for the complimentarity of major social psychological theo-
retical approaches are developed. Most importantly, some of the pos-
sibilities for building explanation of social phenomena, which are
alternatives to existing forms of explanation, are discussed.

This book is dedicated to the future generation and especially to
Renata Lana, and to the present generation and especially to Ralph
Rosnow, and to the memory of Marianthi Georgoudi.

Robert E. Lana

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