The Reaction against Positivism and Dilthey's Concept of Understanding

s NXIETY and concetn abollt the state of hllman affairs have ; intensified interest in the human studies, in psychology and social w Xpsychology, in sociology and social anthropology. A re-examination of the nature, filnction and methods of these studies is taking place and is accompanied by a reaction against positivism. By positivism I mean, in this context, the theory that all acquisition of knowledge, to be scientifically respectable, mllst be modelled on the procedures of the physical sciences. Imblled with this spirit of positivism psychologists and social scientists have produced a mass of carefully controlled laboratory experiments and precise statistical analyses of the behaviour samples of carefully circllmscribed grollps. Such work has certainly produced valuable reslllts yet a sense of dissatisfaction with these procedures is growing. Something of the richness and complexity of hllman life seems to elllde us and so often we bring 1lp only the trivial and 1minteresting in our nets. When we are concerned with the prevalence of delinquency and mental illness, the existence of industrial unrest, the suffering caused by prejudice and snobbery, the clash of cllltural traditions and anxiety about the state of trade unions and political parties to give but a few examples of pressing social issues -we find these methods Lnadequate. The rebels against the dominance of positivism in the human studies have drawn inspiration from continental sollrces and, in particular, from the German tradition embodied for many in the work of Max Weber. This movement of thought has found expression though, of course, with significant variations in the writings of ralcott Parsons, in Aron's book on German Sociology, in H. S. Hughes' Consciousness and Society, in P. Winch's The Idea of Social Science and in C. Wright Mills' The Sociological Imagination. The point at issue is not the rejection of scientific method but rather the 1lse of additional lines of approach which may modify the total 3o7

Epistemology · Positivism · Sociology · Economic Theory and Institutions · Philosophy · Psychology

• Foreground and Background

  Open Access•Susan Opotow, Jack Jen Gieseking et al.•Journal of Social Issues•2011

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• Hermeneutical contributions to the history of science

  Open Access•Oscar Moro Abadía•Studies in History and Philosophy…•2011

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