回到“社会的”社会学

The Return of “Social” in Sociology

社会学是一门没有确定的对象边界、而是根据独特的方法论体系进行自我界定的学科。社会学的方法论根源蕴涵在“社会的”和“社会性”中。在社会学思想史中,“社会的”和“社会性”有四种表征:与“异化”和“失范”对立,彰显马克思意义上的“人类社会”和“社会化的人类”;与原子论的个人主义对立,彰显人与人之间的关联性和互动性;与抽象性对立,彰显具体性和相对性;与神秘性和神圣性对立,彰显世俗性和日常生活性。据此,社会学的方法论可用“社会学的想象力”来概括,在这种想象力中,社会是一个高度相对性和具体性的存在,个体和社会处在相互建构的“结构二重性”关系之中,个体的、日常的和世俗化的行动是社会实现自身的生产和再生产的基础。

Sociology is a discipline without definite boundaries. It defines itself by its unique methodology which is rooted in the “social”. The history of sociological thinking has manifested four expressions of the “social”: (1) Marx’s human society and socialized humanity as opposed to alienation and anomie; (2) interpersonal connections and interactions as opposed to atomic individualism; (3) concreteness and relativity as opposed to abstractness; (4) secularity and everyday life as opposed to mystification and sanctification. The methodology of sociology can thus be summarized accordingly as the “the Sociological Imagination.” In “the Sociological Imagination,” society is an existence with high relativity and concreteness. Individuals and society are in a mutually constructive relation that has “duality of structure,” where individuals’ secular behaviors in everyday life are the foundation of society’s production and reproduction.