The Craft of Sociology: Epistemological Preliminaries

by Jean-Claude Chamboredon, Jean-Claude Passeron

The work of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has emerged, over the last two decades, as one of the most substantial and innovative bodies of theory and research in contemporary social science. The Craft of Sociology, both a textbook and an original contribution to epistemology in social science, focuses on a basic problem of sociological research: the necessity of an epistemological break with the preconstructed objects social practice offers to the researcher. Pierre Bourdieu and his co-authors argue in the epistemological tradition of scholars like Bachelard, Canguilhem, Koyre, a tradition that identifies the construction of the object as being the fundamental scientific act. Their way of discussing the issue makes it accessible not only to academics and experts of epistemology, but also to advanced students of social science, using for illustration a wide range of texts from the various social sciences as well as from philosophy of science. The book includes an interview with Pierre Bourdieu and an introduction by the editor to his sociological methodology.

Genres: Sociology, Philosophy, Academic, Social Science

287 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

Reviews

[Iván · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok... fue, en medida, interesante, pero la forma en que está escrito fue un sufrimiento. Bourdieu y los demás autores, dan información valiosa pero expresado de una forma que no fue del todo amigable.

[xza.rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

« C’est dire que les faits qui valident la théorie valent ce que vaut la théorie qu’ils valident. »

[Emil]

Pas mal (bien aimé) mais on s’est jamais autant branle intellectuellement sur moi allant jusqu’à rendre metametametareflexif sur la sociologie genre frrrr saye

[Natxo Sorolla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Positiu: Revisió de coneixements bàsics per a la sociologia, s'esforça en defensar el caràcter deductiu de la ciència (i empíric), més de la meitat del llibre són textos d'altres sociòlegs que contextualitzen el que s'explica, sobretot francesos. Usa exemples d'altres ciències, i dóna rellevància al llenguatge dintre la Sociologia.
Negatiu: el llenguatge utilitzat és (innecessàriament) farragòs i complex. Cosa que es característica de Bourdieu.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apenas li dois capítulos para uma disciplina e do que li acho que os autores expõem muito bem a situação da ruptura e da construção do objecto (os dois capítulos que li), consegui identificar algumas noções e problemas que já tinha ouvido falar em disciplinas do ano passado (2012/2013). Este livro apresenta igualmente alguns casos em concreto para elucidar, bom livro.

[Ramiro Gómez-Villerías]

The main message, sometimes simplified, which will be remembered from The Craft of Sociology is that there is no empirical fact without at least an implicit theory and no method without practice.