Ontological Problematics in Sociological Interpretation: To the Question Statement

Ontological Problematics in Sociological Interpretation:
To the Question Statement


Kliucharev G.A.

Dr. Sci. (Philos.), Head of the Center for Sociology of Education and Science, Institute of Sociology of FCTAS RAS; Prof., Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Political Science named after G.S. Arefieva, National Research University “Moscow Power Engineering Institute”, Moscow, Russia Kliucharev@mail.ru

ID of the Article:


For citation:

Kliucharev G.A. Ontological Problematics in Sociological Interpretation: To the Question Statement. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2022. No 1. P. 5-16




Abstract

Is the ontological issue recognized in contemporary sociology? If it is denied and left “at the mercy” of social philosophers, then this state of affairs provides a serious argument for positivists and supporters of the “unscientific” sociology. At the same time, at best, sociology lowers its status to descriptive-phenomenological, extra-scientific and, possibly, everyday (routine) knowledge. In the worst case, we will talk about specialized techniques and technologies that are used for their specific purposes by pollsters, market experts and political strategists. If the problem of ontology is interpreted as the recognition of the special and independent existence of the studied reality, then the question of the relationship between epistemology and relativistic (multiple) ontology comes to the fore. At the same time, the reality becomes independent of the researcher and is represented by the aggregate consensus (professional) discourse in which the sociologist is “immersed”. Thus, sociology confirms the status of modern scientific knowledge about society and about social processes in it. The article shows that in theoretical sociology, ontological problems necessarily smoothly pass into epistemology, and begin to “dissolve” in value-historical coordinate systems. For its part, epistemology constructs a new reality that acquires ontological foundations. In the mutual transitions of epistemology and ontology, a blurred border of “inhuman factuality” arises (P. Berger, Т. Luckmann). A hypothesis is formulated that within these continuous transitions a variety of linguistic realities actively interacts among multiple phenomena of everyday life and a diversity of scientific – specialized (professional) sociological discourses.


Keywords
sociology; science; ontology; epistemology; social cognition; social sciences
Content No 1, 2022