An Illustration of the Use of Analytical Theory in Sociology the Application of the Economic Theory of Choice to Non-Economic Variables

Recent developments in the philosophy of science have made it increasingly clear that scientific inquiry may employ various formal languages. Sociology, in the main, is committed to the language of functionalism, but other languages might be used. Furthermore, there are certain inherent limitations in the functional approach which confine analysis to a small number of possible states of systems. Analytical theories, taking as a basic axiom an incremental ranking system for all concepts, would permit discussion of ranges of values of variables and of varying relationships between them, and thus allow for the treatment of different types of systems and of various states of one system. The use of analytic theory in sociology is illustrated by the application of the economic theory of choice to a system of non-economic variables

Axiom · Economics · Epistemology · Functionalism (philosophy of mind) · Management science · Mathematical economics · Mathematical sociology · Positive economics · Ranking (information retrieval) · Social science · Sociology · Structural functionalism · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Economic Development and Digital Transformation · Economic Theory and Institutions · Mathematics · Philosophy