Sociologies (Mar 2016)
De la matérialisation de quelques concepts phénoménologiques
Abstract
This article is a reflexion about the relationship between sociology and philosophy. It will show that building bridges between the two disciplines, whilst recurrent, is more urgent now than ever. On the one hand, philosophy will be unable to contribute meaningfully to discussions about the major political and economic transformations experienced by contemporary societies without engaging with Sociology. On the other hand without philosophical insights Sociology risks drifting towards positivistic trends. In this article we propose to show how each discipline can benefit from cross-fertilisations and in particular how Sociology can appropriate philosophical concepts to address certain challenges. Drawing on a specific example from solidary economy, we will show that the concept of intentional mind-set borrowed from phenomenological philosophy enables pragmatic sociology to account for the gaps, which are liable to emerge between action and justification. This concept fulfills the key tenet of pragmatic sociology that to take social actors seriously we must eschew a type of sociological approach which would consist of revealing that the gaps between action and justification arise from social actors’ illusory apprehension of their habitus.
