Abstract
The concepts of rationality have always been and, we can assume, will always remain controversial in the social sciences in general and in sociology in particular. Schütz made an important contribution to this discussion in the context of the Schumpeter -Parsons Seminar at Harvard University in 1940. In this paper, he criticized any confounding of the levels of everyday life and scientific reasoning and elaborated the position that would come to form the basis of his phenomenologically based hermeneutical approach to the social sciences.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Amann, Anton. 1988. Alfred Schütz und Talcott Parsons – Zur scheinbaren Folgenlosigkeit eines Briefwechsels. In Vertriebene Vernunft II, ed. Friedrich Stadler, 333–344. Wien: Jugend und Volk.
Butts, Steven. 1975. Parsons, Weber and the Subjective Point of View. Sociological Analysis and Theory 5: 185–217.
Coser, Lewis A. 1979. A Dialogue of the Deaf. Contemporary Sociology 8: 680–682.
Eberle, Thomas S. 1984. Die Schütz-Parsons-Debatte. In Sinnkonstitution in Alltag und Wissenschaft. Der Beitrag der Phänomenologie an die Methodologie der Sozialwissenschaften, ed. Thomas S. Eberle, 260–303. Bern: Haupt.
Eberle, Thomas S., and Ilja Srubar. 2004. Einleitung. In Schütz, Alfred Schütz Werkausgabe Vol. IV: Zur Methodologie der Sozialwissenschaften, ed. Thomas Eberle, Jochen Dreher, and Gerd Sebald, 9–44. Konstanz: UVK.
Embree, Lester. 1980. Methodology is Where Human Scientists and Philosophers Can Meet: Reflections on the Schutz-Parsons Exchange. Human Studies 3: 367–373.
Endress, Martin. 2009. Two directions of continuing the Weberian project: Alfred Schutz and Talcott Parsons. In Alfred Schutz and His Intellectual Partners, ed. Hisashi Nasu, Lester Embree, George Psathas, and Ilja Srubar, 377–400. Konstanz: UVK.
———. 2012. Theorie sozialen Handelns – Zur Kontroverse zwischen Alfred Schütz und Talcott Parsons. Zeitschrift für Theoretische Soziologie 1 (1): 47–60.
Fitzhenry, Roy. 1986. Parsons, Schutz and the problem of Verstehen. In Talcott Parsons on Economy and Society, ed. Robert J. Holton and Bryan S. Turner, 143–178. London: Routledge.
Garfinkel, Harold. 1952. The Perception of the Other: A Study in Social Order (PhD Thesis, Harvard University, June 1952), Chap. 5: A Comparison of the Decisions of Parsons and Schütz, 90–151.
Giddens, Anthony. 1979. Schutz and Parsons: Problems of Meaning and Subjectivity. Contemporary Sociology 8: 682–685.
Grathoff, Richard. 1978a. Introduction. In The Theory of Social Action, ed. Richard Grathoff, xvii–xxvi. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
———. 1978b. How long a Schütz-Parsons divide? In The Theory of Social Action, 125–130. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Hama, Hideo. 1989. Schutz-Parsons-Controversy. Tsukuba Journal of Sociology (Japanese) 14: 47–56.
Honolka, Harro. 1978. Review of Alfred Schütz/Talcott Parsons: Zur Theorie sozialen Handelns. Ein Briefwechsel. Soziologische Revue 1: 382–384.
Jules-Rosette, Bennetta. 1980. Talcott Parsons and the Phenomenological Tradition in Sociology: An Unresolved Debate. Human Studies 3: 311–330.
Kassab, Elisabeth. 1991. The Theory of Social Action in the Schutz-Parsons Debate: Social Action, Social Personality and Social Reality in the Early Works of Schutz and Parsons. A Critical Study of the Schutz-Parsons Correspondence. Fribourg: Editions Universitaires Fribourg.
Nasu, Hisashi. 1991. On the ‘Schutz-Parsons Dispute’. The Annuals of Sociology (Japanese) 32: 17–43.
Natanson, Maurice. 1978. Foreword. In The Theory of Social Action, ed. Richard Gratoff, ix–xvi. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Parsons, Talcott. 1937. The Structure of Social Action. New York: The Free Press.
———. 1974. A 1974 retrospective perspective. In The Theory of Social Action, 115–124. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
———. 1986. Aktor, Situation und normative Muster. Ein Essay zur Theorie sozialen Handelns. ed. and with an Introduction by Harald Wenzel. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp.
———. 2010. Actor, Situation and Normative Pattern. An Essay in the Theory of Social Action. ed. and with an Introduction by Victor Lidz and Helmut Staubmann. Vienna: Lit Verlag.
Procter, Ian. 1980. Voluntarism and Structural-Functionalism in Parsons’ Early Work. Human Studies 3: 331–346.
Psathas, George. 2004. Alfred Schutz’s Influence on American Sociologists and Sociology. Human Studies 27: 1–35.
Rehorick, David Allan. 1980. Schutz and Parsons: Debate or Dialogue. Human Studies 3: 347–355.
Rehorick, David, and William Buxton. 1988. Recasting the Parsons-Schutz dialogue: The hidden participation of Eric Voegelin. In Wordly Phenomenology: The Continuing Influence of Alfred Schutz on North American Human Science, ed. Lester Embree, 151–169. Washington: CARP and University Press of America.
Schütz, Alfred. 1932. Der sinnhafte Aufbau der sozialen Welt. Eine Einleitung in die verstehende Soziologie. Vienna: Springer.
———. 1936. Das Problem der Personalität in der sozialen Welt. In Alfred Schütz Werkausgabe Vol. V.1: Theorie der Lebenswelt 1: Die pragmatische Schichtung der Lebenswelt, ed. Martin Endress and Ilja Srubar, 33–90. Konstanz: UVK.
———. 1937. Das Problem der Personalität in der sozialen Welt. Bruchstücke. In Alfred Schütz Werkausgabe Vol. V.1: Theorie der Lebenswelt 1: Die pragmatische Schichtung der Lebenswelt, ed. Martin Endress and Ilja Srubar, 91–176. Konstanz: UVK.
———. 1940. Letter to Fritz Machlup, April 16. In Schütz Papers, Alfred Schütz Memorial Archives: University of Konstanz.
———. 1943. The Problem of Rationality in the Social World. Economica X: 130–149.
———. 1962a. In Collected Papers I, ed. Maurice Natanson. The Hague: Nijhoff.
———. 1962b. Common-sense and scientific interpretation of human action. In Alfred Schütz, Collected Papers I, 3–47. The Hague: Nijhoff.
———. 1962c. Concept and theory formation in the social sciences. In Alfred Schütz, Collected Papers I, 48–66. The Hague: Nijhoff.
———. 1962d. Phenomenology and the social sciences. In Alfred Schütz, Collected Papers I, ed. Maurice Natanson, 118–139. The Hague: Nijhoff.
———. 1962e. On multiple realities. In Alfred Schütz, Collected Papers I, ed. Maurice Natanson, 207–259. The Hague: Nijhoff.
———. 1964. In Collected Papers II, ed. Arvid Brodersen. The Hague: Nijhoff.
———. 1967. The Phenomenology of the Social World. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
———. 1978. Parsons’ theory of social action. In The Theory of Social Action, 8–60. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
———. 1996a. In Collected Papers IV, ed. Helmut Wagner and George Psathas. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
———. 1996b. The problem of rationality in the social world. In Alfred Schütz, Collected Papers IV, ed. Helmut Wagner and George Psathas, 6–24. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Schütz, Alfred and Talcott Parsons. 1977. Zur Theorie sozialen Handelns. Ein Briefwechsel. ed. and with an Introduction by Walter M. Sprondel. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp.
———. 1978. The Theory of Social Action. ed. Richard Grathoff with a Foreword by Maurice Natanson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Schwinn, Thomas. 1993. Jenseits von Subjektivismus und Objektivismus. Max Weber, Alfred Schütz und Talcott Parsons. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot.
Sprondel, Walter M. 1977. Einleitung. In Schütz/Parsons, Zur Theorie sozialen Handelns. Ein Briefwechsel, 10–18.
Tibbetts, Paul. 1980. The Issue of Human Subjectivity in Sociological Explanation: The Schütz-Parsons Controversy. Human Studies 3: 357–366.
Tyrell, Hartmut. 1996. Review of Thomas Schwinn: Jenseits von Subjektivismus und Objektivismus. Max Weber, Alfred Schütz und Talcott Parsons. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 48: 195–199.
Valone, James J. 1980. Parsons’ Contributions to Sociological Theory: Reflections on the Schutz-Parsons Correspondence. Human Studies 3: 375–386.
Wagner, Helmut R. 1979. Theory of Action and Sociology of the Life-World. Contemporary Sociology 8: 685–687.
———. 1980. Reflections on Parsons’ ‘1974 Retrospective Perspective’ on Alfred Schütz. Human Studies 3: 387–402.
———. 1983. Alfred Schutz. An Intellectual Biography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Weber, Max. 1977. Critique of Stammler. Trans. with an Introductory essay by Guy Oakes. New York: Free Press.
Wilson, Thomas P. 2005. The problem of subjectivity in Schütz and Parsons. In Explorations of the Life World, ed. Martin Endress, George Psathas, and Hisashi Nasu, 19–49. Dordrecht: Springer.
Zaret, David. 1980. From Weber to Parsons and Schutz: The Eclipse of History in Modern Social Theory. American Journal of Sociology 85 (5): 1180–1201.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Endress, M. (2018). Schütz on Rationality. In: Staubmann, H., Lidz, V. (eds) Rationality in the Social Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62377-1_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62377-1_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62376-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62377-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)