Sociology’s method-driven path has failed to deliver its Enlightenment promises

Evidence

Hence the thesis that more knowledge about social life (even if that knowledge is as well buttressed empirically as it could possibly be) equals greater control over our fate is false. It is (arguably) true about the physical world, but not about the universe of social events. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 111 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Anglo-American sociology defines itself by research methods rather than by theory; Knowledge of social life does not produce greater control over fate — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 111; Enlightenment-based sociology fragments because theories depend on observers’ beliefs about human nature (+3 more)

Related

• Knowledge of social life does not produce greater control over fate (similarity 0.88)
• Anglo-American sociology defines itself by research methods rather than by theory (similarity 0.82)
• Enlightenment-based sociology fragments because theories depend on observers’ beliefs about human nature (similarity 0.81)
• Sociology’s fixation on methodology has displaced theory and overstates the reliability of empiric research. (similarity 0.79)
• Social knowledge alters its subject, unlike natural-science observation (similarity 0.78)
• Knowledge of the social world makes that world inherently unstable (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Knowledge of social life does not produce greater control over fate #corroborates (0.75) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 111
• Enlightenment-based sociology fragments because theories depend on observers’ beliefs about human nature #corroborates (0.70)