The Meaning of General Theoretical Sociology: Tradition and Formalization

This book sets out a generative structuralist conception of general theoretical sociology; its philosophy, its problems, and its methods. The field is defined as a comprehensive research tradition with many intersecting subtraditions that share conceptual components. The focus is on formalization and unification as processes that can help advance the state of theory today. An integrative philosophy of the field is set out in terms of a process worldview, with a focus on generativity in explanation and a conception of the structure of theories as hierarchical meaning control systems. This philosophy is implemented in two phases. In the first phase, Professor Fararo defines the core problems of theoretical sociology in the context of setting out and illustrating the logic of a nonlinear dynamical social systems framework. A critical analysis of the outcome of this phase then leads, in the second phase, to formal treatments of action principles and structural analysis. A variety of traditions are drawn upon to treat theoretical problems of order and integration, as well as to examine searchingly problems of formalization and unification in theoritical sociology.