1st Edition
Clarity and Confusion in Social Theory Taking Concepts Seriously
By Leonidas Tsilipakos
Copyright 2015
186 Pages
by
Routledge
186 Pages
by
Routledge
186 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Departing from a concern with certain ’hard’ problems in social theory and focusing instead on the theoretical strategies employed in their solution, especially on how these strategies depend on what the author calls the theoretical attitude towards language, this book considers whether these strategies, far from being indispensable guides to thinking, might in fact lead social theorists to... Read more
Clarity and Confusion in Social Theory
Biography
Leonidas Tsilipakos is Chrystal Macmillan Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
’Drawing on the philosophical insights of Ludwig Wittgenstein, J.L. Austin, Gilbert Ryle, Peter Winch, and related arguments, Leonidas Tsilipakos presents a lucid, incisive, and powerful critique of the manner in which, what he characterizes as, the theoretical attitude and attending conceptual confusions have become endemic in much of contemporary social theory. Building on his critical analysis, he offers a vision of a different path forward in social inquiry.’ John Gunnell, SUNY, Albany, USA ’This book is a lucid application of the methods and techniques of ordinary language philosophy to contemporary social theory. Dr Tsilipakos argues convincingly that much of the confusion in current social theory is rooted in adherence to an inappropriately narrow range of conceptual resources and in dogmatic preoccupation with misconceived ontological questions. Clarity and Confusion in Social Theory provides a salutary corrective to social theories that succumb to the allure of scientism.’ P.M.S. Hacker, University of Oxford, UK
