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Ontic Webs: A New Framework for Public Sociology

Philip S. Gorski

Religion, Humility, and Democracy in a Divided America

ISBN: 978-1-78973-950-3, eISBN: 978-1-78973-949-7

ISSN: 0198-8719

Publication date: 5 August 2019

Abstract

What is the relationship between the descriptive and the normative? The usual answer, in the social sciences, is based on a sharp distinction between facts and values. This chapter reprises and radicalizes long-standing critiques of the fact/value distinction, proposes an alternative theory of ontic webs in its stead, and then uses it to delineate six different forms of public sociology. It argues that facts are value-laden and values fact-laden; that facts and values are entangled in webs of belief and practice; and that attributions of causation and moral responsibility are connected via ontological assumptions. Effective public sociology therefore requires a combination of ontological extension and moral translation.

Keywords

  • Fact/value distinction
  • Social ontology
  • Moral attribution
  • Contact theory
  • Critical realism
  • Public sociology

Citation

Gorski, P.S. (2019), "Ontic Webs: A New Framework for Public Sociology", Religion, Humility, and Democracy in a Divided America (Political Power and Social Theory, Vol. 36), Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 151-168. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0198-871920190000036008

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

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