Critical Naïveté
Religion, Science and Action in the Parsons-Voegelin Correspondence
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4181008 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Brickey Lequire (Samford University), Daniel Silver (0000-0001-7316-5146) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 265-293 |
| Publication date | 2013-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-9756 • E-ISSN: 1474-0583 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0003975613000143 |
| OpenAlex | W3125794481 |
| Language | CA |
| References cited | 18 |
Between 1940 and 1944, sociologist Talcott Parsons and political scientist Eric Voegelin engaged in a vigorous correspondence, discussing the origins of totalitarianism and modern anti-Semitism, the legacy of Max Weber, patterns of secularization set in motion by the Protestant Reformation, the methodology and goals of social science, and more. This article introduces and explicates the surprisingly amicable and intellectually rich exchange between these two seemingly different thinkers. Although the letters hold obvious historical interest, their variegated topics are also closely thematically related, revealing an inner logic that we interpret as a theoretical search for "critical naïveté". This logic, we argue, is relevant to contemporary discussions about the social, political, and scientific legacies of world-transcendent spiritual traditions
Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Protestantism · Secularization · Set (abstract data type) · Social science · Sociology · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment · Religious studies · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
The Theory Of Social And Economic Organization
The coming crisis of western sociology
The Axial Age and Its Consequences
Vom Ursprung und Ziel der Geschichte
Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons on National Socialism
The Theory of Social Action
The Idea of an Axial Age. A Phenomenological Reconsideration
The Theory of Social Action
Talcott Parsons Today
Action theory and the human condition
Societies
The “Axial Period
The Origin and Goal of History (Routledge Revivals)
Structure After 50 Years
Inventing the axial age
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |