Mobilization of the Classics in Sociology

Abstract

The reading and understanding of the classical authors of sociology are informative of sociology as a science. However, is this centrality ascribed to social perspectives – which have been proposed in another social and historical context – the consolidation of a body of knowledge of sociology, in which there is a growing refinement of theory? What are the advantages, but also the limitations, of this valuation of the classics? In this position paper, mobilizing relevant literature to justify our argumentative stance, we seek to provide a contribution to answering these questions, as well as some implications.

Sociology: Tension between Science and Militant Activism?

“…In the relationship between science and action, and following Max Weber's classic proposal Serpa & Ferreira, 2020a, 2020bWeber, 1982), there is a need to separate judgments of fact (focused on the empirically found objectivity) from judgments of value (informed by interests and ideologies...), and, in this line of thought, "the neutrality of scientific knowledge implies that science itself does not have the capacity to judge values and point out valuable choices" (Paiva, 2014, p. 380), advocating the maintenance of an "axiological neutrality" in the analysis of how reality is and not how it should be while respecting the professional ethics of being a sociologist.…”