Beyond the Comtean Schema

The Sociology of Culture and Cognition Versus Cognitive Social Science

Bibliographic Data

ID7101457
AuthorsOmar Lizardo (0000-0002-5405-3007, Department of Sociology University of Notre Dame 810 Flanner Hall Notre Dame Indiana 46556, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume29
Issue4
Pages983-989
Publication date2014-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Forum (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0884-8971 • E-ISSN: 1573-7861
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/socf.12130
OpenAlexW2171016018
LanguageEN
Citations received43
References cited14

In this essay, I argue that the very form of the grammatical construction “a sociology of culture and cognition” (which is a specification of the more general schema “a sociology of [X]”) is symptomatic of a deeply entrenched form of “Primitive Classification” (which I will refer to as the “Comtean schema”) that governs the way in which sociologists conceive of their place in, and engage with other denizens of, the social science landscape. I will also argue that while this style of disciplinary engagement might have worked in the past when it came to dealing with the standard (nineteenth‐century) social science disciplines and even some late‐twentieth‐century upstarts, it will not work as a way to engage the now‐sprawling postdisciplinary field that I will refer to as “Cognitive Social Science” ( CSS ). The takeaway point is that if sociologists want to be part of CSS (and it is in their interest to be part of it because this constitutes the future of the behavioral sciences), then they will have to give up the Comtean‐schematic thought style

Cognition · Discipline · Epistemology · Schema (genetic algorithms · Science education · Social science · Social science education · Sociology · Sociology of culture · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Realism in Sociology · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics

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