Where do the limits of experience lie? Abandoning the dualism of objectivity and subjectivity

Bibliographic Data

ID8106716
AuthorsC Greiffenhagen (0000-0002-7544-9246, University of Manchester, corresponding author), W Sharrock (0000-0002-7029-8653, University of Manchester, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume21
Issue3
Pages70-93
Publication date2008-07-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory of the Human Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0952-6951 • E-ISSN: 1461-720X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0952695108093954
OpenAlexW2067495533
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited46

The relationship between 'subjective' and 'objective' features of social reality (and between 'subjectivist' and 'objectivist' sociological approaches) remains problematic within social thought. Phenomenology is often taken as a paradigmatic example of subjectivist sociology, since it supposedly places exclusive emphasis on actors' 'subjective' interpretations, thereby neglecting 'objective' social structures. In this article, we question whether phenomenology is usefully understood as falling on either side of the standard divides, arguing that phenomenology's conception of 'subjective' experience of social reality includes many features taken to be 'objective' elements of it. We illustrate our argument by a critical examination of Jean Lave's attempt to differentiate social practice theory from phenomenology. We show that many theoretical positions that want to overcome the subjective—objective dualism retain an objectivist conception of the 'subjective' features of social reality

Epistemology · Lifeworld · Objectivism · Objectivity (philosophy · Phenomenology (philosophy · Sociology · Subjectivism · Subjectivity · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Realism in Sociology · Emile Durkheim and Sociology · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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