Social relations reduce to structures of knowledge in Schutz’s extreme sociology

Evidence

If you aim for a universal character you may end up with a vague or dull or windy one. If you set out to write a typical character you’re likely to produce a caricature, because people are typical only in the generalized qualities that lump them together. Typical is the most provincial adjective in a writer’s vocabulary, signaling that you’re writing only for those who share your assumptions. A “typical” schoolgirl in Dar es Salaam is a very different type from one in San Francisco. Furthermore, every person is typical of many things successively or simultaneously. She may be in turn a typical schoolgirl, bride, divorcée, and feminist. He may be at one and the same time a typical New Yorker, math professor, doting father, and adulterer. It is in the confrontation and convolution of types that much of our individuality is produced. — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition, 284 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

  • XREF: connects to: Social structures are objectivated meanings built through inter-subjective exchange; LĂ©vi-Strauss’s deep structure decouples meaning from observable social relations; Structuralism introduced a new kind of non-reflective causality between social and mental categories. (+9 more)

Broader Connections