This article serves as an introduction to the following essays regarding the debates on the recent philosophy of social sciences. From the perspective of intellectual development, it discusses the controversies over the nature of human and social sciences and their distinction from natural sciences. The treatise then deals with the rise and development of logical positivism, logico-empiricism, linguistic and analytical philosophy in the first part of the 20 (superscript th) century. A brief exposition and evaluation of the relevant ideas of Karl Popper, Paul K.Feyerabend and Thomas Kuhn will hopefully facilitate the reader tounderstand the other essays of this series. The article subsequently highlights the contribution to the contemporary philosophical understanding of modern society by such thinkers as Alfred Schütz, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Pierre Bourdieu and Michel Foucault. In conclusion, the author evaluates the role of the philosophy of social sciences to the present-day growth of social knowledge.