Knowledge of the social world makes that world inherently unstable
Evidence
The point is not that there is no stable social world to know, but that knowledge of that world contributes to its unstable or mutable character. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 115
Categorization
- XREF: Explains why institutional systems (Giddens’s expert systems) can never become stably grounded — echoes Luhmann’s point that system trust reduces complexity without achieving security. — connects to: Modernity institutionalises doubt, making all knowledge claims inherently circular — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 408; Knowledge of social life does not produce greater control over fate — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 111; New social knowledge alters the social world rather than merely describing it — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 363 (+5 more)
Related
- Knowledge of social life does not produce greater control over fate (similarity 0.90)
- New social knowledge alters the social world rather than merely describing it (similarity 0.87)
- Social science knowledge changes the social world it studies. (similarity 0.86)
- Modernity institutionalises doubt, making all knowledge claims inherently circular (similarity 0.85)
- Social knowledge alters its subject, unlike natural-science observation (similarity 0.82)
- Social science is more deeply implicated in modernity than natural science. (similarity 0.81)
- Modern knowledge is more opaque to individuals than pre-modern local knowledge was (similarity 0.80)
- Under modernity no knowledge is certain, in any science. (similarity 0.80)
- Modern dangers are produced by socially organized knowledge, not nature (similarity 0.80)
- Abstract systems do not colonise the life-world but interact dialectically with it (similarity 0.80)
- The feeling that systematic knowledge is impossible stems from uncontrollable modern events, not epistemology (similarity 0.78)
- Modernity’s trust requires the awareness that human activity is socially created, not divinely given. (similarity 0.78)
- Sociology’s method-driven path has failed to deliver its Enlightenment promises (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Social knowledge alters its subject, unlike natural-science observation
#corroborates(0.95) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 116 - New social knowledge alters the social world rather than merely describing it
#corroborates(0.90) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 363 - Abstract systems do not colonise the life-world but interact dialectically with it
#qualifies(0.40) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 347