Social science interprets the interpretations that culture makes of life

Evidence

The British sociologist Tom Burns put this nicely somewhere when he observed that the task of art is to make sense out of life. The task of social science is to make sense out of the senses we make out of life. By such reasoning the social scientist stands toward his material—cultural forms such as religion, ideology, journalism, everyday speech—as the literary critic stands toward the novel, play, or poem. He has to figure out what it means, what interpretations it presents of life, and how it relates to the senses of life historically found among a people. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 250

Categorization

• DEFINE: Articulates a double-hermeneutic view of the social scientist’s task toward cultural forms.
• XREF: This ‘senses of life’ formulation connects to Geertz’s interpretive turn that Carey discusses in this chapter. — connects to: Cultural studies aims to understand meanings rather than explain or predict behavior — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 290; Cultural studies scholarship examines culture and class through theoretical frameworks; Popular culture theory requires conceiving persons as fundamentally cultural beings. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 318 (+11 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 250

Broader Connections

• Marxist culture is the objectified human design on existence under definite conditions #expands (0.70)
• Cultural studies scholarship examines culture and class through theoretical frameworks #expands (0.60)
• Social structures are objectivated meanings built through inter-subjective exchange #expands (0.60)
• Popular culture theory requires conceiving persons as fundamentally cultural beings. #expands (0.50) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 318