Sociology and the Twilight of Man: Homocentrism and Discourse in Sociological Theory(Perspectives in Sociology)

A critique of modern sociological theory, this brilliant new work rather than announcing the twilight of man accepts the event both as an intellectual conclu­sion and an empirical fact, and proceeds systematically to examine the alterna­tives beyond the Weber-Durkheim-Par­sons episteme. Addressing himselfto the issues of pluralism in sociological theory, Lemert rigorously examines representative writings of important theorists in America and Europe, including the writings of Homans (Lexical Explana­tion), Blalock (Theory Construction­ism), Parsons (Analytic Realism), Blumer (Symbolic Interactionism), Schutz, Berger, Luckmann (Phenomen­ology), Cicourel (Ethnomethology), and Habermas (Critical Theory). Lemert challenges the celebrated pluralism hy­pothesis in his argument that recent sociological theory is not so pluralistic after all and has not made particular use of available styles of thinking. Sociology and the Twilight of Man is an important contribution to the modern sociological enterprise for several rea­sons. First, it raises basic questions about the progress made beyond earlier theoretical writings. Second, it ques­tions the explanatory force of current theories. Third, it questions whether contemporary theory can continue to develop in a meaningful way without a profound reexamination of its assump­tions and premises. And fourth, it dem­onstrates the value of discursive analysis to theoretical studies. Lemert's critique could lead to fundamental revisions of sociologists' perception of their disci­pline.

About the Author :
Charles C. Lemert is Associate Professor of Sociology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has written exten­sively in sociological theory and the sociol­ogy of religion.

Review :
“Using the method of linguistic analysis, Lemert subjects the works of some of the major contemporary American theorists (with Habermans the one European excep­tion) to a critical review. He advances the ar­gument that despite the apparent diversity of ‘paradigms’ among these works, all authors share the common assumption that ‘man [is] a finite subject who dominates his own his­tory.’ This assumption, Lemert maintains, has both unified sociological theory and pre­vented it from reaching new and presumably more accurate insights about the dynamics of modern social life. Lemert’s analysis is fas­cinatingly original… his challenge will be worth the attention of the professional so­ciologist.”—Library Journal “Lemert presents a novel classificatory scheme for sociological theories. His thesis is that theory has become an independent as­pect of sociological literature… This work should appeal primarily to sociological specialists, and particularly advanced students of theory. Well indexed; excellent bibliogra­phy; the print is large and very readable. Le­mert writes exceptionally well and clearly.”—Choice