Definitions of human beings as "symbolic animals" emphasize our
capacity to form theories and general laws that can be applied to
common social experience. This is balanced by an equally strong
will to define events and conditions that are particular to
specific times, places, and individuals. In this volume, Dennis H.
Wrong argues that the scientific standard of universal laws and
propositions has only limited relevance to human historical
phenomena.
Wrong identifies the essential questions for social science as the
place of nature and nurture in forming personality, the sources of
variation in human conduct and culture, the causes of deviations
from social norms, how human motivations are socially shaped and
controlled to make society possible, and, finally, the causes of
social change. Because successive generations of thinkers have
given varying answers to these questions, no cumulative progress
can be said to have occurred. Wrong argues that the unity of theory
and research sought by American sociologists cannot be obtained in
social theory.
In terms of sociological practice, this has created a disparity
between the canonical theories of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber, and
the empirically oriented methodologies of current social
research--especially questionnaires, fieldwork, and statistical
research. Wrong attributes this disparity to postmodern skepticism
about the potential of the social sciences to create a body of
knowledge that might positively reshape human society. Between the
large-scale theoretical constructs of classical theory and the
overly particularistic tendencies associated with postmodernism,
Wrong argues for a historically oriented approach emphasizing
unforeseen, accidental agents as a foundation for modestly
conceived theories.
Wrong emphasizes that the capacity to avoid predictable,
standardized responses, whether they are based on instinct or
ingrained habit, is the source of human creativity. "Homo sapiens"
is as much a particularizing as a generalizing animal. That is the
major theme of this effort at the humanization of a discipline
divided by space, time, and purpose.
Dennis H. Wrong is professor emeritus of sociology at New York
University. He is the author of "Reflections on a Politically
Skeptical Era, The Oversocialized Conception of Man," and "Power:
Its Forms, Bases, and Uses."
General
Imprint: |
AldineTransaction
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
September 2005 |
First published: |
2005 |
Editors: |
Dennis Wrong
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 7mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
116 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4128-0501-8 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
Sociology, social studies >
General
|
LSN: |
1-4128-0501-5 |
Barcode: |
9781412805018 |
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