Antinaturalism (sociology)

Last updated

Antinaturalism is a view in sociology and other disciplines which states that the natural world and the social world are different. The ideas first developed in the field of history in the works of Wilhelm Dilthey and Heinrich Rickert and it was applied to sociology by Max Weber. Antinaturalists believe that unlike the natural sciences there is no way in the social sciences to gain certainty. Social sciences are thus the study of meaning and not just facts. [1]

It is closely related to antipositivism, and is the opposite of sociological naturalism.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social science</span> Branch of science that studies society and its relationships

Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of society", established in the 18th century. In addition to sociology, it now encompasses a wide array of academic disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, economics, human geography, linguistics, management science, communication science, psychology and political science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Émile Durkheim</span> French sociologist (1858–1916)

David Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, along with both Karl Marx and Max Weber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sociology of knowledge</span> Field of study

The sociology of knowledge is the study of the relationship between human thought, the social context within which it arises, and the effects that prevailing ideas have on societies. It is not a specialized area of sociology. Instead, it deals with broad fundamental questions about the extent and limits of social influences on individuals' lives and the social-cultural basis of our knowledge about the world. The sociology of knowledge has a subclass and a complement. Its subclass is sociology of scientific knowledge. Its complement is the sociology of ignorance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auguste Comte</span> French philosopher, mathematician and sociologist (1798–1857)

Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte was a French philosopher, mathematician and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense of the term. Comte's ideas were also fundamental to the development of sociology, with him inventing the very term and treating the discipline as the crowning achievement of the sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of academic disciplines</span> Overviews of and topical guides to academic disciplines

An academic discipline or field of study is a branch of knowledge, taught and researched as part of higher education. A scholar's discipline is commonly defined by the university faculties and learned societies to which they belong and the academic journals in which they publish research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Science studies</span> Research area analyzing scientific expertise

Science studies is an interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in broad social, historical, and philosophical contexts. It uses various methods to analyze the production, representation and reception of scientific knowledge and its epistemic and semiotic role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social research</span> Research conducted by social scientists

Social research is research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan. Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florian Znaniecki</span> Polish and American philosopher and sociologist

Florian Witold Znaniecki was a Polish and American philosopher and sociologist who taught and wrote in Poland and in the United States. Over the course of his work he shifted his focus from philosophy to sociology. He remains a major figure in the history of Polish and American sociology; the founder of Polish academic sociology, and of an entire school of thought in sociology. He won international renown as co-author, with William I. Thomas, of the study, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (1918–1920), which is considered the foundation of modern empirical sociology. He also made major contributions to sociological theory, introducing terms such as humanistic coefficient and culturalism.

Verstehen, in the context of German philosophy and social sciences in general, has been used since the late 19th century – in English as in German – with the particular sense of the "interpretive or participatory" examination of social phenomena. The term is closely associated with the work of the German sociologist Max Weber, whose antipositivism established an alternative to prior sociological positivism and economic determinism, rooted in the analysis of social action. In anthropology, Verstehen has come to mean a systematic interpretive process in which an outside observer of a culture attempts to relate to it and understand others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antipositivism</span> Theoretical stance in social science

In social science, antipositivism is a theoretical stance which proposes that the social realm cannot be studied with the methods of investigation utilized within the natural sciences, and that investigation of the social realm requires a different epistemology. Fundamental to that antipositivist epistemology is the belief that the concepts and language researchers use in their research shape their perceptions of the social world they are investigating and seeking to define.

The behavioural sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioural interactions between organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behaviour through naturalistic observation, controlled scientific experimentation and mathematical modeling. It attempts to accomplish legitimate, objective conclusions through rigorous formulations and observation. Examples of behavioural sciences include psychology, psychobiology, criminology, anthropology, sociology, economics, and cognitive science. Generally, behavioural science primarily seeks to generalise about human behaviour as it relates to society and its impact on society as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Positivism</span> Empiricist philosophical theory

Positivism is a philosophical school that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning a posteriori facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience. Other ways of knowing, such as intuition, introspection, or religious faith, are rejected or considered meaningless.

The history of the social sciences has origin in the common stock of Western philosophy and shares various precursors, but began most intentionally in the early 18th century with the positivist philosophy of science. Since the mid-20th century, the term " social science" has come to refer more generally, not just to sociology, but to all those disciplines which analyze society and culture; from anthropology to psychology to media studies.

The double hermeneutic is the theory, expounded by sociologist Anthony Giddens, that everyday "lay" concepts and those from the social sciences have a two-way relationship. A common example is the idea of social class, a social-scientific category that has entered into wide use in society. Since the 1970s, held to be a distinguishing feature of the social sciences, the double hermeneutic has become a criterion for demarcating the human/social from the natural sciences.

Nanhua University is a university located in Dalin Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan. Founded in 1996 as the Nanhua College of Management, it was elevated to university status in 1999. The university was founded by the Buddhist monk Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan. In 2022, Times Higher Education's World University Rankings ranks NHU as 95th of the "Impact Rankings: Reducing inequalities" in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historical sociology</span> Interdisciplinary field of research

Historical sociology is an interdisciplinary field of research that combines sociological and historical methods to understand the past, how societies have developed over time, and the impact this has on the present. It emphasises a mutual line of inquiry of the past and present to understand how discrete historical events fit into wider societal progress and ongoing dilemmas through complementary comparative analysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phenomenology (sociology)</span> Branch of sociology

Phenomenology within sociology, or phenomenological sociology, examines the concept of social reality as a product of intersubjectivity. Phenomenology analyses social reality in order to explain the formation and nature of social institutions. The application of phenomenological ideas in sociology differs from other social science applications of social science applications.

Ethnozoology is a field of study that explores the complex relationships between humans and animals in their environment. This discipline encompasses the classification and naming of various animal species, as well as the cultural knowledge and use of both wild and domesticated animals. Ethnozoology is a subdiscipline of ethnobiology, which also includes ethnobotany, the study of human-plant relationships. However, unlike ethnobotany, ethnozoology focuses specifically on human-animal relationships and the knowledge that humans have acquired about the animals in their surroundings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sociology</span> Social science that studies human society and its development

Sociology is the study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. Regarded as a part of both the social sciences and humanities, sociology uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order and social change. Sociological subject matter ranges from micro-level analyses of individual interaction and agency to macro-level analyses of social systems and social structure. Applied sociological research may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, whereas theoretical approaches may focus on the understanding of social processes and phenomenological method.

References

  1. Piotr Sztompka (11 September 2013). Sociological Dilemmas: Toward a Dialectic Paradigm. Elsevier. pp. 49–. ISBN   978-1-4832-6036-5.