Jochen Dreher

The Symbol and the Theory of the Life-World: "The Transcendences of the Life-World and Their Overcoming by Signs and Symbols"

This essay presents a phenomenological analysis of the functioning of symbols as elements of the life-world with the purpose of demonstrating the interrelationship of individual and society. On the basis of Alfred Schutzs theory of the life-world, signs and symbols are viewed as mechanisms by means of which the individual can overcome the transcendences posed by time, space, the world of the Other, and multiple realities which confront him or her. Accordingly, the individuals life-world divides itself into the dimensions of time, space, the social world and various reality spheres which form the boundaries or transcendences that the I has to understand and integrate. Signs and symbols are described as appresentational modes which stand for experiences originating in the different spheres of the life-world within the world of everyday life, within which they can be communicated, thereby establishing intersubjectivity. Schutzs theory of the symbol explains how social entities – such as nations, states or religious groups – are symbolically integrated to become components of the individuals life-world. The following paper reconstructs Schutzs concept of the symbol as a crucial component of his theory of the life-world, which is seen as an outstanding phenomenological contribution to the theory of the sign and the symbol in general.

The Social Construction of Reality, A Four-Headed, Two-Fingered Book: An Interview with Thomas Luckmann:

First published in 1966, The Social Construction of Reality, by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, marked the beginning of a significant transformation in social theory and the sociology of knowledge. In this interview Luckmann relates the working dynamic of writing the book four-handed and details his further collaborations with Berger. He then describes their expectations on the possible impact of the book and his view on how it was actually received. The interview concludes with Luckmann noting some misunderstandings of so-called ‘constructivism’ and clarifying the intended meaning of the term social construction.

The Social Construction of Power: Reflections Beyond Berger/Luckmann and Bourdieu:

This paper emphasizes the specific theoretical potential of Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann’s The Social Construction of Reality for an analysis of the construction and constitution of power. In contrast to certain criticisms, as formulated for example by Pierre Bourdieu, which reproach the authors for being oblivious of power, it is shown that Berger and Luckmann’s theoretical apparatus indeed offers the possibility to reconstruct established power structures as part of objective reality. Furthermore, the authors open up a distinct perspective from which to systematically analyze the subjective dimension of power constitution with reference to the subjective reality of the individual actor. We argue that the investigation of power inevitably needs to be based on the idea of the dialectical relationship of objective and subjective reality. Moreover, this paper shows that it is specifically the subjective dimension of power constitution based on systems of relevance that allows for an explanation of the resistance to established power structures on the part of the individual actor.

Soziologiegeschichte und Sozialforschung am Bodensee

Im Jahr 2014 blickt das Sozialwissenschaftliche Archiv Konstanz zuruck auf vier Jahrzehnte seines Bestehens, in denen es sich zu einem der bedeutendsten sozialwissenschaftlichen Archive im deutschsprachigen Raum entwickelt hat. Wir nehmen das 40jahrige Jubilaum zum Anlass, auf den folgenden Seiten das Konstanzer Archiv vorzustellen, seine Geschichte, seine Aufgaben und seine Forschungstatigkeiten.

Life-World Analysis and Literary Interpretation. On the Reconstruction of Symbolic Reality Spheres

A specific method for literary interpretation on the interface of phenomenology and the social sciences is based on life-world analysis taking over a hermeneutic perspective. Starting from Alfred Schutz’s assumption that art, amongst other things, is the conscious reinterpretation of structures of relevance of the life-world, the paper introduces the Schutzian conception of literary interpretation which is characterized by the aim of reconstructing the “logic of the poetic event” which runs contrary to everyday life and rational thinking. After connecting life-world theoretical with socio-scientific hermeneutical reflections to capture the triangular relationship of author, work and recipient, Schutz’s interpretation of Goethe’s “Wilhelm Meister’s Journeyman Years” will be presented. This analysis will be enhanced by symbol-theoretical reflections which serve for a further phenomenologically oriented interpretation of an excerpt of “Journeyman Years” with a specific emphasis on reverence and religious motives.

Fenomenologia do poder

Nas ciencias sociais, e possivel se deparar com diversas concepcoes de poder, de modo que encontrar uma definicao abrangente para esse fenomeno se revela tarefa particularmente dificil. O filosofo Friedrich Nietzsche, como se sabe, ve na vontade enquanto “vontade de poder” a forca motriz originaria do homem. Conforme Nietzsche, os filosofos estao especialmente predestinados a aplicar sua vontade criativamente, pois: “seu ‘conhecer’ e criar, seu criar e uma legislacao, sua vontade de verdade e – vontade de poder” (Nietzsche, 1993 [1886], p. 145). Aquele que com exito manifesta a vontade de poder e “o destoante, o homem para alem do bem e do mal, o senhor de suas paixoes” (ibidem, p. 147). E no individuo, portanto, que Nietzsche ve a origem do potencial para o exercicio do poder, o que ja nos sugere a questao sobre seu fundamento subjetivo. Ao mesmo tempo se mostra interessante investigar ate que ponto esse individuo, em sua constituicao, e determinado por estruturas de poder socialmente instituidas. Em primeiro lugar apresentarei diferentes concepcoes de poder, as quais me permitirao, em seguida, demonstrar a particularidade de uma perspectiva fenomenologica. Desde um ponto de vista sociologico e fenomenologico, sera proposto um conceito de poder que, na analise da posicao do sujeito nos contextos interacionais, estabelece uma ligacao entre a subjetividade do individuo agente e a coletividade, e o social. Para isso utilizarei como amparo teorico, sobretudo, as reflexoes de Alfred Schutz, de Peter L. Berger e Thomas

Sozialwissenschaftliches Archiv Konstanz

Der Beitrag prasentiert die Geschichte sowie einen Uberblick uber die umfassenden Bestande des Sozialwissenschaftlichen Archivs Konstanz und stellt aktuelle, im Archiv durchgefuhrte Editions- und Forschungsprojekte vor.

Sociology and Phenomenology

I was the philosopher and sociologist Alfred Schutz who inaugurated a paradigmatic sociological approach strongly influenced by the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl, followed by authors such as Thomas Luckmann and Peter L. Berger, among many others. This issue of Civitas discusses mainly recent developments of this sociological tradition, responsible for important influences on the contemporary sociological theory and on the development of empirical research, such as ethnomethodology, conversation analysis, socio-scientific hermeneutics and the biographical narrative approach. This special issue unites contributions that explore theoretical and empirical investigations anchored in these sociological traditions or that foster the dialogue between these approaches with other sociological perspectives. As far as the interrelationship of sociology and phenomenology is concerned, it is important to mention that both disciplines are distinct with respect to their epistemology, methodology and methods. The sociological discipline concentrates on the analysis of concrete historical and empirical phenomena, such as e.g. power structures and inequality in specific societies, “states”, “communities” of a certain time. Sociology empirically investigates the “social construction of reality” (Berger and Luckmann, 1989 [1966]) with respect to concrete socio-historical phenomena, using diverse qualitative and quantitative methods for its research. This parts from the assumption that from a sociological perspective historical worlds are socially constructed in concrete experiences and actions (Luckmann, 2007 [1999], p. 131). On the other hand, phenomenology concentrates on how reality is constituted on the basis of general structures of experience depending on consciousness activities. The phenomenological discipline investigates how appearances of reality present themselves in space and time to our subjective consciousness. According to the founding father of phenomenology, Edmund Husserl, the phenomenologist has to go “back to the things themselves”, that means back to the things as they are actually given to our experience (Husserl, 1992 [1931], p. 14). Consciousness is always the consciousness

La justicia como construcción social: participación, representación y “Nuevo Acuerdo” en Colombia

The article aims to answer a key question that arises in the context of the Colombian peace process: in what sense is it possible to talk about “justice” or establish a “fair” situation within a con

Phenomenology and Sociological Research: The Constitution of "Friendship"

ictive background like the one that has distinguished the history of Colombia? It addresses this question from two di*erent perspectives, being the &rst one a philosophical-moral perspective, while the second is mainly a sociological one. Bearing in mind the last perspective, the article proposes that legitimation of the projected social order and power structures might be achieved by basing it on symbolic ideas and by presenting a socio-constructive reasoning.