Full-text resources of CEJSH and other databases are now available in the new Library of Science.
Visit https://bibliotekanauki.pl

Results found: 5

first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last

Search results

help Sort By:

help Limit search:
first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last
1

Dilema schématu a skutečnosti v sociologické teorii

100%
Balon J.
Teorie vědy (Theory of Science)
|
2008
|
vol. 17/30
|
issue 3-4
185-199
EN
The idea of conceptual scheme is clearly present in the classical and modern sociological theory. However, contemporary sociological thinking is highly critical of it and in its radical versions this idea is dismissed altogether. This article traces various historically formed insights into the nature of concept formation in sociology and tries to demonstrate that without the attempts at creating a coherent conceptual scheme, sociology would be deprived of any possibility to push through a specifically sociological perspective on the social world. Talcott Parsons' conceptual level of theory is examined in detail and taken as an example of a viable theoretical approach based on the transformation of sociological concepts. The account of the sociological dilemma of scheme and reality is brought together with Donald Davidson's argument against the dogma of scheme and reality. The idea of a conceptual scheme has been discredited in contemporary thinking together with the idea and the project of (grand) general theory of society. It is argued that from the generalizing critique of the idea of general theory it does not follow that sociology does not need sound concepts. If it were so then no sociological knowledge that would not refer only to itself would be possible.
2
Content available remote

THE EARLY AMERICAN SOCIOLOGY AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXTUALIZATION (Pocatky americke sociologie a jejich historicka kontextualizace)

100%
Balon J.
Sociológia (Sociology)
|
2010
|
vol. 42
|
issue 1
5-32
EN
This article provides a historical analysis of intellectual and institutional development of the early American sociology. The two most frequent historical narratives, one of the 'intellectual irrelevance', and the other of the 'institutional triumph', examining the legacy of the first American sociologists are confronted and dissected in detail. It is argued that the reconstructions of early American tradition often project current problems into historically specific contexts of the formative period. The problem of continuity/discontinuity of American sociology is interpreted in terms of a historically conditioned 'quest for objectivity and coherence'. The design of the article is historical, theoretical, and conceptual. Its main intention is to identify the key problems put forward by the first American sociologists and to address their conceptions aimed at founding a unified theoretical and methodological approach. Detailed attention is also paid to the attempts at disciplinary separation and identity formation of the early American sociology.
3
Content available remote

Nenaplněný příslib sociologické teorie: vzestup a pád americké sociologie ve druhé polovině dvacátého století

100%
Balon J.
Sociologický časopis. Czech Sociological Review
|
2008
|
vol. 44
|
issue 5
943-968
EN
This article traces the development of American sociology in the second half of the twentieth century in relation to the project to advance the shared disciplinary foundations. The author reconsiders the prominent role of sociological theory in this process and devotes special attention to current criticism of any project designed to found sociology on a unified theory. Between 1945 and 1970, a period often described retrospectively as the 'Golden Age' of sociology, scientists heralded the coming of the era of sociological thinking, a view supported by the unprecedented institutional expansion of the field. However, enthusiasm over the potential growth of the field was in the ensuing period replaced with an escalating sense of dissatisfaction with the absence or unsatisfactory nature of the general vision of development. The idea of unified sociological theory was attacked and the field became more and more contested, fragmented, and compartmentalised. The article analyses the disintegrating impact that the inability to push through the promised programme of unification of the field had. The account of the development of American sociology is tied in with an argument about the conditions for sociological theory today.
4
Content available remote

Ambivalentní odkaz Millsovy Sociologické imaginace

100%
Balon J.
Sociologický časopis. Czech Sociological Review
|
2009
|
vol. 45
|
issue 5
1055-1073
EN
Charles Wright Mills wrote his renowned and bestselling The Sociological Imagination fifty years ago with the ambition of providing an alternative to the theoretically unsubstantial and methodologically inhibiting approaches that predominated at that time. His battle against the idea of a politically and morally neutral understanding of social inquiry was rhetorically compelling and anticipated the radical voices that would be heard in the late 1960s. It is argued in this article that probably the best lesson we can get from Mills has to do with his understanding of 'sociology as a profession'. His argument addresses crucially important questions about the public relevance of social inquiry and the underlying themes of social-scientific reflexivity, creativity, and non-conformity. However, despite his rhetorical force and stylistic brilliance, Mills' overall message is considered ambivalent. His concept of social inquiry based on identification of morally and politically relevant problems ultimately leads to the vaporisation of the very substance of social inquiry and to the institutional debilitation of the field as such. The resulting uncertainty concerning the basic means and ends of sociology, together with a hyper-tolerance towards the delineation of sociological research area, often leads to the identification of relevant problems on the basis of individual choice, inspiration, creativity, or imagination. It is suggested that this understanding of Mills' legacy usually results in the trivialisation and parody of the overall message embodied in The Sociological Imagination.
5

The Theory of Action: Talcott Parsons and After

100%
Balon J.
Teorie vědy (Theory of Science)
|
2009
|
vol. 31
|
issue 2
41-70
EN
This article focuses on the problems and contradictions of sociological theories of action. It investigates critically the development of the theory of action after the Parsonian synthesis, drawing attention to the limitations of articulating the concept of action systematically within a presuppositional framework of analytical theory. Having exposed Parsons general theory of action and some interpretations and criticisms, the paper addresses the so-called 'return of grand theory', spearheaded in the early 1980s by authors such as Alexander, Habermas, Giddens and Luhmann. The article analyses the conceptual innovations introduced by their theories according to Parsons own definition of theoretical work, which - as he said - consists in reconstruction and transformation of categories in the moments of their failure. While it is argued that sociological theory cannot do away with general concepts, it is also argued that these need not have the form of a synthetic theory of action of the kind outlined by Parsons and the Post-Parsonians.
first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.