Abstract
In the preceding chapter the present writer stated in agreement with H. Blumer that — and this is the main reason that our concepts are sensitizing and not definitive — every object in our “natural social world” has a distinctive, particular or unique character and is in the context of a similar distinctive character. We have to respect the nature of this world, the peculiar character of human beings, of human groups and conduct, and to organize a methodological stance reflecting that aspect.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
L.A. Coser, Masters of Sociological Thought. New York 1971, p. 247.
D. Wrong, ed., Max Weber. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 1970, Introduction, pp. 19, 21.
For a discussion on Verstehen see a selection of contributions: P.A. Munch, “Empirical Science and Max Weber’s Verstehende Soziologie”, in: Amer. Sociol. Rev., 22, 1, 1957; E. Allarat, “International and External Criteria of Behaviour Regularities”, in: Acta Sociol. 4,4, 1959; W. Tucker, “Max Weber’s Verstehen”, in: Sociol. Quart., 6, 2, 1965; L. Braude, “Die Verstehende Soziologie: A New Look at an Old Problem”, in: Sociol. Soc. Res. 50, 2, 1966; M. Wax, “On Misunderstanding Verstehen: A Reply to Abel”, in: Sociol. Res. 51, 3, 1967; E. Mokrzycki, “The Operation of Verstehen”, in: Polish Sociol. Bull. 2, 22, 1970; D. Leat, “Misunderstanding Verstehen”, in: Sociol. Rev. 20, 1, 1972.
M. Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, ed. by T. Parsons. Glencoe, pp. 88–100.
J. Freund, The Sociology of Max Weber. New York 1968, pp. 117, 118.
Max Weber, p. 25.
A. Schutz, The Problem of Social Reality (ed. by M. Natanson). The Hague 1962, pp. 38ff.
M. Weber, Basic Concepts in Sociology. New York 1964, p. 29.
T. Parsons, “Natural and Social Sciences”. In: D. Wrong, ed., op. cit., pp. 90–98.
B. Nelson, “Weber’s Legacy”. In: D. Wrong, ed., op. cit., p. 100.
The “meaning” of meaning, the key concept of any symbolism, is still an abyss of open questions: Is it an intrinsic property, an unanalysable relation to other things? Is it a connotation of a word? An essence à la Husserl? An activity projected into an object? An event intended? The place of anything in the system? The practical consequence of a thing in our future experience? The mnemic effects of a stimulus? (C.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards, op. cit., p. 186).
W.I. Thomas, The Unadjusted Girl. Boston 1923, p. 41.
R. Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure. Glencoe 1957, pp. 421f.
P.L. Berger and T. Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality. Garden City, N.Y. 1966; P. Berger, “Identity as a Problem in the Sociology of Knowledge”, in: European Journal of Sociology, VII, 1966, pp. 105–115.
F. Znaniecki, The Method of Sociology. New York 1934, p. 41.
Ibid., pp. 44, 45.
F. Znaniecki, The Social Role of the Man of Knowledge. New York 1940, p. 5.
F. Znaniecki, Cultural Sciences. Urbana 1952, p. 132.
F. Znaniecki, Social Relations and Social Roles. San Francisco 1965, pp. 49, 50.
G. Simmel, Essays on Sociology, Philosophy and Aesthetics,ed. by K.H. Wolff. New York 1959, p. 350.
Ibid., p. 355.
Ibid., p. 344.
Ibid., pp. 339, 340.
A. Schutz, The Problem of Social Reality,p. 53.
A. Schutz, The Phenomenology of the Social World. Evanston 1967, pp. 163, 164.
A. Schutz, Studies in Social Theory. (ed. by Arvid Brodersen). The Hague 1964, pp. 64ff.; idem, The Problem of Social Reality, pp. 3ff.
A. Schutz, Phenomenology of the Social World, p. 92; M. Natanson, “Alfred Schutz on Social Reality and Social Science”, in: Social Research 35, 2, 1968, p. 227.
A. Schutz, Phenomenology of the Social World, p. 240.
M. Natanson, op. cit., p. 233.
R.M. Maclver, Social Causation. New York 1964, p. 75.
Ibid., p. 264.
Ibid., p. 265. The military historian D.J. Goodspeed explores in his brilliant account of the attempt at Hitler’s life at Rastenburg on July 20, 1944 (The Conspirators, Toronto 1962) the possibilities of what would have happened if the attempt would have been successful, i.e. what could the rebels have achieved if they, instead of improvising in an amateurisch fashion, had decided upon the calculated risk of a simultaneous plan. In the first place, Berlin could certainly have been captured. Then, the word of Hitler’s death could have been broadcast over the Berlin station and for several hours at least it could have served as a self-fulfilling prophecy. General Beck could have spoken to the German people and to the world. Gestapo Headquarters in Berlin could have been taken, Kaltenbrunner, Müller and Goebbels shot, the SS in Berlin disposed of. In the West, von Stülpnagel and his friends might have been encouraged to put von Kluge under arrest and to execute the elite of the Gestapo and the SS in Paris. In sum, Hitler’s regime, hard pressed as it was on both fronts and overshadowed by the growing uncertainty of disastrous military defeat, would have found it difficult to survive this additional strain and the Second World War might have ended nine months before it did (pp. 205–206). The consequences of Hitler’s death in July 1944, mainly in terms of saved human lives and matériel, would have been enormous. The historian’s guess, an imaginative reconstruction of events in retrospect, is an academic question, yet, as it happens in some armchair theorizing, it is worthwile exploring it.
R.M. Maclver, op. cit., p. 371.
Ibid., p. 388.
Ibid., p. 391.
Ibid., p. 392.
The chief weakness of these studies is that they are too method-dependent. Most of the issues are studied because they are easy to study, and important problems are neglected. The research can best be advanced by putting the problem before the method.
R.D. Laing, Self and Other. London 1969, p. 14.
S.E. Asch, Social Psychology. New York 1952, p. 142. Emphasis added.
T.M. Newcomb, “The Cognition of Persons as Cognizers”. In: R. Tagiuri and L. Petrullo, eds., Persons,Perception and Interpersonal Behaviour. Stanford 1965, p. 190. Emphasis added.
For a survey see R. Tagiuri and L. Petrullo, eds., op. cit.
Beckett exemplifies these two dynamics by “the tragedy of the Marcel — Albertine liaison” from Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past which is “the type tragedy of human relationships” (Proust, New York 1931, p. 7).
M. Polanyi, Personal Knowledge. New York 1964, pass im.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1975 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Baumann, B. (1975). Verstehen and Related Constructs. In: Imaginative Participation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-4871-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-4871-1_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-4626-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-4871-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive