Social theory must steer between reductionism and empty pluralism

Evidence

In this field of inquiry, “sociological theory” has still to find its way, by a difficult effort of theoretical clarification, through the Scylla of a reductionism which must deny almost everything in order to explain something, and the Charybdis of a pluralism which is so mesmerized by “everything” that it cannot explain anything. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 639

Categorization

• DEFINE: Articulates the two failure modes of sociological explanation: reductionism that explains one thing by denying the rest, and pluralism too diffuse to explain anything.
• XREF: connects to: Discourse theory’s claim that nothing exists outside discourse is reductionism upward; Reductionist legal theories obscure the diverse functions of rules within a social system — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 649; Modern capitalist societies experience themselves as pluralistic rather than unified (+6 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Discourse theory’s claim that nothing exists outside discourse is reductionism upward; Reductionist legal theories obscure the diverse functions of rules within a social system — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 649; Modern capitalist societies experience themselves as pluralistic rather than unified (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Articulation theory can still avoid both vulgar reductionism and sociological pluralism #corroborates (0.95)
• Modern capitalist societies experience themselves as pluralistic rather than unified #complicates (0.72)