On Transcending the Absurd: An Inquiry in the Sociology of Meaning

Goodwin, Glenn A.

doi:10.1086/225000

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…. The "absurd position" is the conscious realization that there is no final synthesis' (Goodwin, 1971: 833-4, original emphasis). Contrasted to the fatalism so closely associated with the negative dialectics of critical theory, in this positive light, dialectical thought provides one means of transcending the normative impasse so closely associated with the self-conscious adoption of the absurd philosophical stance noted above.…”

Section: Reification and Self-alienation In An Age Of Absurditymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The limitations of such periodization notwithstanding, has the absurdity of experience become sufficiently important for it to deserve more systematic treatment within human geography? The problem is that the absurd 'appears not be a fully accredited philosophical category' (Cornwell, 2006: 2) and figured only briefly as a minor movement in sociology (Goodwin, 1971;Lyman and Scott, 1970;Shoham, 1974).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Taking the absurd seriously

Phelps

2017

Progress in Human Geography

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A focus on the absurd reveals points of tangency between political economy and humanistic geographical approaches. I argue that capitalism’s contradictions have broadened and deepened absurd phenomenal experiences, the reflexive internalization of which – in processes of reification or self-alienation – has recursive effects on the constitution of societies. The paradoxes mobilized as part of dialectical reason provide a means of taking the absurd seriously in our emotional and intellectual responses to it. These arguments are illustrated with respect to the consumption of stuff. In conclusion, I note how the absurd poses unsettling questions for human geographical theory and praxis.

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Section: Reification and Self-alienation In An Age Of Absurditymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taking the absurd seriously

Phelps

2017

Progress in Human Geography

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“…I see the starting point for such a 'poetological' self-description of sociology, for instance, in the works of Stein (1963), Nisbet (1969Nisbet ( , 1976, Lyman and Scott (1970). Goodwin (1971), Brown (1973, 1977. Greimas (1977), Brown and Lyman (1978), Perman (1978).…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociology and the Diagnosis of the Times or: The Reflexivity of Modernity

Lichtblau¹

1995

Theory, Culture & Society

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“…Complementing everyday experiential recognition of the importance of paradox and ambivalence, several semitechnical and technical statements intended to alert investigators to these facets of human experience have appeared.' Goodwin (1971) alerts us to essential cultural features that may be missed because of unyielding dependence upon univalent conceptions of man. While not minimizing the substantive and ethical arguments of Goodwin, we note how the complexity of contradiction dictates increased ingenuity and dexterity in representing the phenomenon.…”

Section: Graphical Humor and The Social Sciencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Articulations of the world views of the so-called youth culture in the late 1960's such as Roszak's The Making of a Counter Culture (1969) and Reich's The Greening of America (1971) are examples of statements oriented to wide-ranging audiences; Goodwin's (1971) and Schneider's (1971) arguments represent more focused and technical treatments. Our attention to some recent statements is not meant to imply absence of early and important treatments of ambivalence and paradox in social science literature.…”

Section: Analysis Of Ambivalence Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%