Metaorder of categories vs/and metacategories of order

• Main Author: Alexander Golikov
• Format: Article
• Language: Ukrainian
• Published: V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University 2020-02-01
• Series: Український соціологічний журнал

The article is devoted to the theoretical study of theory as an order of production of this theory at the categorical level. Based on historical and sociological material and conceptual analysis, the author explores the logic of the development of sociology as a science using the metacategory of order as an example. The author analyzes a number of views prevailing in sociology on issues of abstraction and specificity, empiricism and theory, generalizations and refinements, universalist conceptualism and particular applicability. It is emphasized that the abstraction, selection and construction of metacategories is the main way not only in the “normal sciences” (according to T. Kuhn), but also in the sciences that can oppose themselves to them, including in various sociology projects. As an example of metalanguages the development of N. Luhmann’s theory and actor-network theory are studied. The ways of introducing metacategories into sociology, their abstraction and approval are investigated. Three key sources of metacategories for sociology are identified (selfmovement of sociology, borrowing from philosophy, extraction from other sciences). An important distinction between metacategories, categories and official words in sociological theorizing is introduced. Separate emphasis is placed on the analysis of how metacategories are practiced in sociological discourse. The author’s hypotheses and preliminary conclusions are verified on the basis of material metacategories of the social order in the interpretation of a number of leading theoretical sociologists. For verification, P.A. Sorokin, T. Parsons, P. Bourdieu and E. Goffmann theories were used. The conclusion about the epistemological significance of metacategories for sociology and about their role in the scientific order of the organization of knowledge is drawn. In particular, the author proves that the study of the metacategory of order allows to reveal the metaorder of categories in theoretical sociology. Order as one of the most abstract, least “colored” and methodologically biased metacategories in this sense has a high potential for explicating the logic of the development of sociology