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Toward transformation in social knowledge

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	HM251 .G349 1994	Off-site

Description

xxvii, 260 pages; 24 cm

Summary

Critical resistance to traditional empirical methods and the quest for foundational knowledge of human action is widespread. Recognition of theoretical and methodological inadequacies has sparked a search for a more robust conception of human science.
In Toward Transformation in Social Knowledge, Kenneth J. Gergen develops the argument for human science as social construction. Demonstrating that descriptions of human action can neither be derived from nor corrected by scientific observation, Gergen provides a bold interdisciplinary challenge to traditional views, thus clearing the way for significant alterations in scientific practice.
In the Preface to the second edition, Gergen describes the significant movements taking place since the first edition was published over a decade ago. This fascinating and carefully reasoned book remains essential reading for psychologists, sociologists, philosophers of the social sciences and others seeking a fresh understanding of our concept of social knowledge.

Subject

Bibliography (note)

Contents

In the Context of a Rooted Tradition. Tradition in Transition. The Developing Dialogue. The Rise of Social Constructionism. References -- 1. Traditional Science in a World of Change. Assumptive Bases in the Sociobehavioral Sciences. The Threat of Instability. Decomposing Patterned Behavior. Fundamental Assumptions Revisited: The Hypothesis Test. The Retrenchment of Traditional Science -- 2. The Communal Basis of Social Knowledge. A Dilemma Solved and a Crisis Created. Science and the Dilemma of Identification. Descriptive Language: From Neurons to Nurturance. The Revitalization of Theory. The Significance of Empirical Research -- 3. Generative Theory and Degenerative Metatheory. The Impact on Theory of Logical Empiricist Metatheory. Methodological Selection and Theoretical Constraint: The Controlled Experiment. Metatheoretical Constraints on Generative Theory. The Development of Generative Theory -- 4. The Turning Point in Life-Span Study. From the Stable to the Aleatory in Developmental Trajectory.
The Emergence of Autonomous Self-Direction. The Functional Utility of Life-Span Theory -- 5. The Historical Context of Transformation. The Pivotal Conflict: Exogenic versus Endogenic World Views. The Struggle toward a New Science. Metatheoretical Bases for a Unified Alternative. Toward a Sociorationalism.

ISBN

LCCN

93061687

OCLC

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library