Scaling up; scaling down: What's missing?

What are we trying to explain when we explain behavior? How is behavior conceptualized as an object of study and how else might it be conceptualized? Longino (Studying human behavior, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 2013) urges pluralism with respect to causes and explanations of behavior. This paper extends Longino's analysis to the object of those explanations and urges pluralism with respect to behavior itself. The paper proposes that there are three ways in which behavior can be conceptualized, each of which opens to different kinds of research questions.

Automated summary

This paper discusses the need for pluralism when explaining behavior, proposing three different ways in which behavior can be conceptualized, leading to different types of research questions.