Why Read The Social System Today? Three Reasons and a Plea

Bibliographic Data

ID2404533
AuthorsUta Gerhardt (University of Heidelberg, Germany,, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume5
Issue3
Pages267-301
Publication date2005-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Classical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-795X • E-ISSN: 1741-2897
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1468795x05057867
OpenAlexW2121855428
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited26

Parsons might have been the 'incurable theorist' he pronounced himself to be in the dedication to The Social System. What I will show, using The Social System as an example of classic writing, was that theory in the guise of what he called 'theory-centered research' was an eminently empirically minded kind of social thought. I use three scenarios to elucidate this point, one historical, one methodological and one political. All three together, I argue, make The Social System a model of sociology at its best - not least because Weberian conceptual principles allow for scientific scrutiny along with a pro-democracy knowledge interest in Parsons's second magnum opus

Epistemology · Magnum opus · Plea · Political science · Politics · Scrutiny · Social science · Social theory · Sociology · Computer Science · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory

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