Γνώση, κοινωνία και η κοινωνιολογία της γνώσης: Από το υποκειμενικό νόημα στην κοινωνική γεγονότητα

Abstract

The development of the theoretical endeavours and the analytical- hermeneutical approaches to the relation between society and knowledge, that is the subject of the essay, focus on the theory of the ‘social construction of reality’ of Thomas Luckmann. Furthermore, the essay establishes the subsequent transformation of the notion in terms and theoretical means of the current theory of the communicative construction of social reality. The founding principles of the theory of communicative action turn out to be outmost fruitful in constructing an analytical framework that can sustain a wide variety of empirical research strategies in contemporary German sociological science. The analysis is centered on a series of essential questions that pertain to the nature of the relation between society and the subject of the ways in which human action (Handeln: Max Weber) produces a world of things (choses: E. Durkheim). Stated differently, how can it be possible for the subjective sense to assume the character of an objective social facticity? Furthermore, the essay addresses the question of scientific and moral relativism, which has to be seen closely related to sociology of knowledge, as well as the criticism to the basic approaches of the sociology of knowledge concerning the communicative construction of reality, especially in the work of Jurgen Habermas.