Abstract
The book analyses problems of the methodology of social sciences. It examines the issue of comparability and incomparability of natural and social sciences.
The essence of the issue is a dispute whether in social and natural sciences there may in principle be adopted the same methods and procedures. The society may be examined from the perspective of an explanation (non-normative discourse) and in terms of a narrative (normative discourse).
The author develops a concept of historical time and elaborates the issue of a narrative. The starting point is the idea of a "conceivable world" and retrograde analysis.
The narrative discourse has two levels. The first is a timeline of a narrative.
It is a constant of a narrative. The second level is a semantic level of a narrative.
The narrator can "retell" the historical event. S/he uses the historical facts and constructs the conceivable world.
The final part of the book deals with a dichotomy (explanation or narrative; individualism or collectivism, etc.) in social sciences. The author offers an integrative research in social sciences.