Ideology and social knowledge / Harold J. Bershady.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bershady, Harold J., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Parsons, Talcott, 1902-1979.

Parsons, Talcott.

Knowledge, Sociology of.

Physical Description:

xx, 160 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick ; London : Transaction Publishers, [2014]

Summary:

This book analyzes Talcott Parsons' largest-scale effort to overcome the relativism and subjectivism of the social sciences. Harold J. Bershady sets forth Parsons' version of the characteristics desirable for social knowledge, showing that Parsons deems the relativistic and subjectivistic arguments as powerful challenges to the validity of social knowledge. From his first major work in the 1930s to his later writings on social evolution, Parsons' theoretical aim has been to provide an unassailable answer to the question, "How is social knowledge possible?" Ideological criticisms of Parsons' work, Hershady argues, not only miss his awareness of ideological influences upon social thought, but also miss the logical and epistemological strands of his thinking. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction and Setting 1

2 The First Epistemological Problems 23

3 The Relativity of Ideal-Types 45

4 The First Solution of the Epistemological Problems 57

5 Metaphysical Interlude 73

6 The Functional 'Solution' of the Scientific and Epistemological Problems 83

7 Of Thinking and Explaining the Composition of Large-Scale Societies and Their Evolution 113

8 Conclusion: On Unification of Social Knowledge 137.

Notes:

Originally published: New York : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1973.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1412853680

9781412853682

OCLC:

857743837

Publisher Number:

99959795599