Modern Social Theory

Modern Social Theory

An Introduction

Edited by

Austin Harrington

OXFORD

VNTVBRSTTY PRESS

Intrc -'--donW.hat is

Social Theory?

Austin Harn'ngton

fOClCS DISCUSSED IN THIS INTIIODUCTION

The rn~anirlgd 'the6y'

~andsaialsdenoe Mehddmedroddogyinsodalmeatch

faid thea~yand'rommonse~e*

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SOURCES HUTHE PUBLIC MEMA WB5IES

bdal W r ycan- be-definedasthe study of sdenWcwaysofthinldngaboutsodal Uk. It aKompassesideas about how societies change and develop, a b u t methods of explain-

9social behavlour, about power and s o d structure, class, gender andethnldty.

modernityand 'dvlliratlon', r e v o l u t l ~ a n dutopias,and numerousother conceptsand

probierns in soda1 life. This Introduction addresses some of the leadhg questlorn t?lat

&se when we start to think about the very idea of a 'science of society'. We begin by &cussing the meaning of the word 'theow and its oarlow implications for 'method' md 'methodology'in socialresearch.We alsoconsiderquestionsaboutthe relationship d s d d theoryto 'common sense',abouttheroIeof 'facts', 'values',and 'obfectivlty'In JociaI research, and about the relation of sociology to other disdplines of the sodal sciencesandthe humanitiessuch aspolitical theory, psychology,anthropology,Mstory,

.Ddphilosophy.

The meaning of 'theory'

As a term of art, kocial theory' is a distinctly recent Invention. No such term exists In English orin any otherlanguagebefore the twentiethcenturyIand even io the twentieth centuryit is not commonbefore aboutthe 1940s. Auguste *Comtecoined thetermsucioI0gie in France in the 1840s, but 'sociology' too did not gain widespread currency as a term uatll after 1900.However, the two separatewords 'socfal*and 'theory' are very ancientin origin.An initiallookattheixetymologieswillglw us someduestotheirmeanlagasa coniolned pair.

Our words 'sodal*and 'society'derlve horn the Latin words sodus and sodeta. For

Romans,a sociw %a memberof aadinj?partnership. Asociuswas a merchant coomt-

tnnwith other merchantsas a oartner,fellow,or 'associatet.A partnershipor 'association'

between merchants was a sock&, which is the orinin of our modem U s h word 'company' or 'bushesfinn', as well asourkeywordsociety, Thecommercialmeaainqaf soc+dmc is directIypreservedin othermodem European Ianpages suchasinthe Frenchand It2

his sens

- .. - .

. . -

w

._ .. heancic .

- G

~ean'ct ontem~lation'.In thewritingsof thephilosopherM o t l e , &&a referred

tocontemplationof thecosmos. It contrastedwithepm&, fromwhichourword 'pra&eJ

derives.Praxisforthe Greeks referred tohuman -'way of acttngand conductingtheir

lives on this earth, in the Immediate everyday wodd. Clearly*this ancient Greek under-

standing of M a differshorn most common uses of the word 'theory' today. The Greek

word thearla had gdifferentsetof connotationsfrome m o d e r n linkagesof theory with

'scientific construction'. my we tend to think of 'a theoryras belnaa 'scientific con-

-str-uct' or a 'scientific model'. In contrast.th- for the Greeksdid notitself mean science. Rather,it meantrePectionon science: reffection onthe value of saence,asonemodeof con-

tem~latinth~ecosmosamongothers-alongside art,myth,reliRfon.and themost general

disciplineof thinkinp;that the Greekscalled'philoso~hyo~r,-of wisdom'.

The ancientGreek meaningof Mria might not seempartiadd9 relevant tous iothe

present day. It might seem to reinforce the rather widespread view that theory lacks rel-

wan= to dailylie. Yett h i swouldbeto failto appreciatethesignificanceof theidea. 7?wiW

for the Greekswas an indispensableaid tomaicingsenseof their livesin the ordinaryworld

ofsodety,in theworld of the 'city' or what theyd l e d thepolis,born which our word 'pol-

itics' derives.Theybeueved that people who did notpause to engagein contemplation and

reflectionhad no pointsof orientationforconductinnt h e i r k sin vractice,in the political

world of actionsand Interacttonswith otherpeople. Thus&&ria for the Greeksremained

indispensable to everyonewho soughtwisdom,happiness,and the good Me inthe realm

-ofpFaxfs*

It can be said that a renrrrent tendency af modern

has been for theory to be

equatedwith scientificknowledgeper se and to

dE!

tation of

critical reflective questioning about the and m e d n x of science-in the context of

politics. in thc c o n t c , a n f ~ m o d eosf understandlQ&bnd inthe contextoftheAnitude

and mortalitv of h

m The neglect of thetiria in modern times was a partimlarIy

important concern for theJewish-C;erman philosopher Edmund *Husserl, founder of the

mwernent of philosophical t houghr known as *p!rmomenoEop. Writing in the 1930s,

Husserl armed that unless the scicnces m t l ~ t e tdheir sourcesof origination and mean-

l nfo~r evervdav life, in the "lifeworld' as hecalld it, they would bedoomed to extinction

t Husscrl 19361.Either the sciences would become wholly abqorbed into the production of

technnlogies of mastery over nature or they would dissolve in a wave of revolt against all

tattonal thinking totdt roftrt.Unfortunately,the rise of fascism and militarism in Europe in

rhe 1930s and 1940s confImed Hussert's fears,and the only remainingrole for sciencein

European society in this period remained as an instrument in the production o lmachines

of war and persecution,

In a similar spirit, the Jewish-GermanCmlgre philosopher Hannah "Arendtargued that

theory In the modern age comesto be Inaeasinglv suhrdfnated to the search for techno-

lofiical mntrol over physical and social lifc (Arendt 1958). Writing in the 19505, Arendt

suggested that where the original virn confmplativnor "contemplative life'oof the ancient

Grreks had been intimately hnund up with what the Greeks saw as the vitaactiw or 'active

life' of public palitical participation,the 'actlve lifekf the modern age no longer has the

sense of practice and deliberation informed by contemplativereflection,Instead.

consciousness the w& becomes inmasinpllv orientedto w o ! and e v

ml ot-dve.rn,

where science scrves the develoament of technotop and where t k q ~ d ~ M a n d s o ~ h v

scrve a t mast as 'handmaidens' to science. In contrast, Arendt wanted to see a world in

which t h ~ o r yand philosophy not only assist science but also remind sdence Q?itsmoral

and nolittcal reswnsibilities. in the face of the fraatliy of the earth's resources and the

mortality of human lift,

Science and social science

This ancient context of theilria suggests clrles for ways of thinking about the relationship

of soclal theory to science todav. society scientifically,we can also s

li sndal-

av that it

S

a

way& of tt h.l nh l.u ne p o u t

of tthinkmg about

howZar it ispossible

studv m-1~.

We can sav t h a t ? is a

thinking about

what science and bei in^ 5scl~ntificheanwith respect to the social world,

'Theward ' ~ i e n c ci'n English has close connectionswith the natural sciencesand is often

used synonymouslywith them. HDW~MIt,he natural sciencesare nottheonlv disciplinesof

human enquirywith a claim to the title of science.-aPeneraI to

..

ismag&amcthod~methodstod~

consistently between t

and

tranr.par. ently.

Usuallv

it involvesan effort toh-

5v~tematic;lllv

ovfthewrsonobserpingthem-whatwecall d a kI

or 'cvidcncel--qad d e a m n r c - d

by t h e - a s a d p r d e r -

i n g W W b o b s e r v e s . D e f i n e d in this general sense, it is clear t hat physics,chemistry,

or biolop are not the only subjects of enquiry with a claim to the title of k i n g sciences.

Other sub@ctsofstudp,such ashistory, archaeolo~o,r an criticism, can aIsa besciences.In

French, the subject5 known in English as the 'humanities'are called Ies sciences Aumnines,

while in German the humanities are known as the *Gpistenvissmd~ofim-'sciencesof the

- mlnd', or "sciences of thc works ofthe human mind'. The particularassociationbetween scienceand natural sciencein English reflcclsa series oldeveloprnents inea~lpmodern European history in which a number of precedents were set by the emergence of physics and astronomy in the seventeenth centurv and the emergence of chemistry and biolo~yin the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. From around

L k k A g h t e i e h t e e n t Y l r y . a variety of atternpfi were madet o e thc-a d d riuplins~ crenceswithd e w m l devotfd i d , ~

h u m a n s o c i a l ~ T l i e r ;~encludedeconomics, phiiolugy and linwistics,

history and art history, and notably 'sociology'.

iL!&ashdh&LlW&

W-P~

were Q& ~ C P if ?t h y copied o~-&

sciences.Accordingto Auguste *Comte, who 1s thc originator both of our word 'sociology'

and of the concept of *'positive science' or 'positivism, nnlv one f u m h m t a l p r i n c u

&science and all p a ~ c u l a rsciences had to be unified undcr this principle. I liis

principle was set by the science of physics, which Comtc believed to proceed by QUE

h v a n v ~ c o n c t r n r i o n s-tf

Vhtually ali social theorists and philo~ophersreject this nineteenth-century positlvist

conceptJon

sanML

kofhscPieh~nc~.e~to.daf .v.

Al mnf nl f

m hp

n

nrtm a lsri~lvund--

l

a

v

a

sclencesthcmselves.amu

w h m w h i c h n ~ w i r a s c i e n c e . - t h e humanities and the

social sciences-dy V v a l u p 9 . ji ~f 5. a n d b

Fnclalhphnvinllrantlin-dwa-h

as kxh aed

These embodied meanings, wlucs, intentions, beliefs, and idcas

are @rrs ermra-lr

m. unfar.nmrl^t~TKheto~rferfonrtemh-nnalca2nanwaut%hebt.-

. . YLulhpfln

hv

s

r

cale

l

e

m

.

cnt

.

sa

.

rer

.

rca

t

c

pf

dd

Although natural scicntistsalsu, up to a point,

deal ~ 7 1 tshy MYIlfp

mhol~conwithtructs that r ..v h. ' ".c h P m

require if~ ~"

*Anterprctivc ..

skills

p

of

v

a

r

i

o

u

~kind. s,

udaiktk

.

p nf

m=xiwinidwinlhlPa&ra~

..a

m-

. .

- p

This questionof differences betweenthe human sciences and the natunl sciences raises

a more general question about the role of what is called 'method'and 'methodology' in

social research.I t is to this that we n w turn.

Methodand methodologyinsocial research

T

a

b

'mg

. hadrcalI

.

1s

ta

k

N

c

t

r

m

a

t

l

r

i

a

a

n

l

r

t

*

t

l

i

t

n

f

f

i

w

-

mPt to use mmeoarticulartwhniaue or techniques in b v s n m e -

Lhh&In social science we speak of 'quatitativc methods', such as a programme of inter-

views, and mfPllflwa-

of

'quantitative

m. eth.ods', f o&&

such

as

t

h

e

use

of

s

t

a

t

i

s

t

i

c

r

.

Uhaxea

fma s.kn

~

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