The Sensitizing Concepts and the New Metatheoretical Movement

The notion of sensitizing concept is an important methatheorical tool to understand the development of sociological knowledge. However, it can contribute even more to metatheorical discussions. The thesis that motivates this study is that the conception of theory behind such discussions lim...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Abreu, Cláudio
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2020
Country:México
Institution:EL COLEGIO DE MÉXICO
Repository:Estudios Sociológicos
Language:Spanish
OAI Identifier:oai:oai.estudiossociologicos.colmex.mx:article/1831
Online Access:https://estudiossociologicos.colmex.mx/index.php/es/article/view/1831
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:theoretical sociology
empirical sociology
sensitizing concepts
laws
testing
sociología teórica
sociología empírica
conceptos sensibilizadores
leyes
contrastación
Description
Summary:The notion of sensitizing concept is an important methatheorical tool to understand the development of sociological knowledge. However, it can contribute even more to metatheorical discussions. The thesis that motivates this study is that the conception of theory behind such discussions limits its potential. The aim of this article is to make explicit such limitation. The argumentative strategy is to present the advantages of a contemporaneous conception of theory. Once we expose the notion of sensitizing concept, we will discuss the phases of development of philosophy of science; two conceptions of scientific concepts; and the basic ideas of structuralist metatheory, of fundamental law of a theory and of testing of such laws. Then we carry out the analysis of the notion of sensitizing concept. The conclusion is that, using as a background structuralist metatheory, the notion of sensitizing concept is enhanced.