Philosophical Sociology of Peter Winch Cover Image

Filozoficzna socjologia Petera Wincha
Philosophical Sociology of Peter Winch

Author(s): Maciej Soin
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Social Philosophy
Published by: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Winch; Wittgenstein; socjologia;

Summary/Abstract: The article contains a critical analysis of the main threads of philosophy and sociology concepts, as they are presented in Peter Winch’s “The Idea of a Social Science and its Relation to Philosophy”. Difficulties identified in his rule-thesis, the concept of meaningful behavior and the concept of the internality of social relations are discussed. The main source of difficulties is founded in rejecting the idea of the philosophy conceived as therapy; this concept of philosophy Winch criticized as the ‘Underlabourer Conception of Philosophy”. The article concludes with a suggestion that the right use of Wittgenstein’s achievments in sociology requires a return to the idea of the philosophical grammar of speaking about society and social institutions.

  • Issue Year: 54/2009
  • Issue No: 54
  • Page Range: 183-193
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: Polish