Sociological Realism in the Early Works of Pitirim Sorokin

In: Sociologičeskij žurnal: Sociological journal, Band 25, Heft 3, S. 142-156

Abstract

The subject of this article is the theoretical and methodological foundations for P.A. Sorokin's sociological concept, set forth in his work "The System of Sociology" (1920). The article analyzes Sorokin's interpretation of the dilemma of nominalism / realism and some general features of the vision of this dilemma in the field of sociological thought, namely: the failure to distinguish the notion "sociality" as an abstract concept and as an idea of society in the Platonic sense, the conversion of said dilemma into the form of the "atomism / holism" antitheses, and an anthropomorphic interpretation of holism. It is shown that in his attempt to establish a realistic view of the nature of social phenomena, while avoiding the extremes of its "literal" interpretation, Sorokin develops the methodology of analytical and material realism. From the author's point of view, the concept of the conductor proposed by Sorokin corresponds to the modern interest in nonverbal semiotics, while the instrumental interpretation of a person as a participant in social interactions corresponds to later developments, which maintain an "out-of-subject" line in sociological analysis.