Bizarre

In the second half of the 19th century, social sciences in the United States were directly related to the reformist movement and the improvement of social life. "The "Social Science Movement", which was formed in 1885 into the American Association of Social Science, was a typical attempt for the end of the 19th century to "apply science" to the solution of social problems without resorting to explicit tactical means of political activity. In short, it was an attempt to turn the problems and difficulties of the lower class into a subject of public concern from the middle class...

The social sciences are experiencing moral "scientific", political and intellectual crises along with the moral "scientific" crisis. Attempts to ignore this fact are one of the reasons for the protracted crisis. In order to judge the problems and methods of the various schools in social science, we have to understand the great variety of political values and intellectual challenges around us, for we cannot pose any problem unless we establish whose problem it is. What seems to be a problem to one...

Abstract empiricism has two common justifications. If we accept them, it turns out that the severity of the results is achieved not due to some essential characteristic of the "Method", but due to the reasons "random in nature", namely due to money and time. Firstly, it may be assumed that, since such research is very expensive, its problems are to some extent inevitably influenced by the interests of those who pay for it, and it may be added that these interests are related to completely unrelated problems...

It is not customary for abstract empiricism as a social science style to formulate any meaningful theories and conclusions. Empiricism is not based on any new concepts of nature, society, and man, nor is it based on specific facts. One thing is certain: this style is easily recognizable by the range of problems that its adherents choose to study and the ways in which these problems are studied. However, it is undeniable that such research does not deserve to be recognized as such a style of social study...

As with High Theory, the abstract empiricism of the cognition process is characterized by the fact that researchers snatch a private operation that takes over them entirely. Both directions allow the scientist to distance himself from the main tasks of social sciences. Of course, it is necessary to reflect on the method and theory, but in these directions such reflections become a barrier to cognition. The "methodological self-limitation" of abstract empiricism here plays the same role as the fetishization of the "Concept" in the "High Theory"...

Perhaps most importantly, the sociological imagination makes it possible to distinguish between the concepts of "personal difficulties associated with the external environment" and "social problems caused by social structure". Such an approach is a crucial factor in the sociological imagination and a hallmark of all classical social science works. Personal difficulties are determined by the nature of the individual and people direct relationship with others; they concern themselves and the limited areas of society with which he or she is personally familiar...

What are the main problems of our society and what are the main difficulties faced by individuals? In order to identify both, we must, based on the characteristics of the major trends of the modern age, answer the question of what values people share but are at risk, and what values are preserved and supported. In both cases, it is necessary to find out what structural contradictions may lie behind these processes. When people adhere to values and do not feel threatened, they are in a state of well-being...

As a typical example of "High Theory", let's consider some positions from Tolcott Parsons' "Social System". It is widely believed that this is a very important book written by the most prominent representative of this intellectual style. "An element of a generally accepted symbolic system, which is a criterion or standard for the selection of orientation alternatives that are inherently appropriate to the situation, can be called a value... However, this motivational and orientation aspect of the...

The one with a sociological imagination is able to understand the impact of the action of historical forces on people's inner state and path of life. It helps to explain how, in the tumultuous flow of daily life, people often form a false awareness of their social positions. In this whirlwind of events is the device of modern society, which forms the mental warehouse of people. In addition, people's personal difficulties are based on problems that are independent of them, and public indifference to the individual is manifested in concerns that are socially important...

Nowadays, privacy is often seen as a series of traps. People feel that in their daily lives they are unable to cope with thoften they are absolutely right about that. Everything a person usually knows directly from experience, everything he tries to do, is within the limits of his private life; his ideas and possibilities are limited by the narrow framework of work, family, neighborhood, outside of which others act for him, and he remains a simple spectator. But the more one feels, even if vaguely,...