Pragmatic humanism : on the nature and value of sociological knowledge / Marcus Morgan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Morgan, Marcus, author.

Series:

Routledge advances in sociology ; 165.

Routledge advances in sociology ; 165

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sociology--Philosophy.

Sociology.

Humanism.

Physical Description:

191 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2016.

Summary:

Is sociology best understood as simply chipping away at our ignorance about society, or does it have broader roles and responsibilities? If so, to what-or perhaps to whom-are these responsibilities? Installing humanity as its epistemological and normative start and endpoint, this book shows how humanism recasts sociology as an activity that does not merely do things, or effect things, but is also self-consciously for something. Rather than resurrecting problematic classical conceptions of humanism, the book instead constructs its arguments on pragmatic grounds, showing how a pragmatic humanism presents an improved picture of both the nature and value of the discipline. This picture is based less around the claim that sociology is capable of providing authoritative revelations about society, and more upon its capacity to offer representations of the social in epistemologically open, transformative, ethical, and hopeful ways. Ultimately, it argues that sociology's real value can only be disclosed by replacing its image as a discipline aimed towards disinterested social enlightenment with one of itself as a practice both dependent upon, and at its best self-consciously aimed towards, human ends and imperatives. It will appeal to scholars and students across the social sciences, and to those working in social theory, sociology, and philosophy of the social sciences in particular. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Exhuming humanism 1

2 The phoenix of humanism 12

3 A humanistic conception of knowledge and its political implications 50

4 Beginning with ends: from technocratic to transformative knowledge 76

5 The poverty of moral philosophy and the strength of sociological 'ethics' 96

6 The responsibility for social hope 123

7 The value of a humanistic sociology 147.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781138808751

113880875X

OCLC:

913829570

Publisher Number:

40025793208