社會學科的性質和意義

The Characteristics and the Social Implication of Social Studies

葉啓政(Chi-Jeng Yeh)

《通識教育季刊》 3卷1期 (1996/03) Pp. 91-98

https://doi.org/10.6745/JGE.199603_3(1).0006

摘要

本文之主旨在於說明西方學術傳統所建立之有關人與社會現象之研究的特點，以及其所可能具有的社會意義。長期以來，在自然科學之認知模式的影響下，西方學者們甚多以為，人與社會現象可以甚至是必然要以自然科學的方法來研究，才有獲致真理之可能。但是，情形似乎不是那麼單純，許多的論述已經足夠提供我們認知到任何知識基本上都是一種人為的象徵建構，因此，任何有關人之行為和社會現象的知識論述所全圖刻劃的「實在」都是建構的，學者們所勾勒的世界基本上是既實又虛，是一篇有真人真事的「故事」。知識論述乃具自我實現預言之性質的一種身心狀態表現形式。大體上而言，整個西方社會研究的知識論述所表現的是以「理性」為主軸的「現代化」論述。這很明顯地指明了任何的知識論述都是地區的。做為東方人，我們有另類的文化與歷史傳統，以此傳統或另創世界觀，來對照西方既有知識論述傳統，乃可以努力的方向，這是所謂「本土化」的意義所在。

並列摘要

The main target of this article is to illuminate the characteristics and the possible implications of Human and Social Studies in line with the Western Academic tradition. Under the impetus of the cognitive model dominated by natural sciences for centuries, the majority of scholars in the brood areas of social studies believe that the truth embodied in human behavior and social phenomena can be and perhaps can only be assessed by adopting the scientific methods defined and elaborated by natural scientists. Yet the situation seems not so determinate as such. It has been repeatedly demonstrated by scholars from different areas that what all of the different forms of knowledge reflect is not the naive fact, but a world symbolically constructed by specific sort of human being. So is the so-called ”reality” too. It is thus concluded that a world presented by a social scientist is in fact no other than a ”story” regarding to some real men and real things at its measure. Hence any social discourse is a particular way of presentation which reflects a specific cultural form of mind-body state which always carries a nature of self-fulfilling prophecy. In the light of such an argumentation, the social discourse employed by the Western academic social scientists is primarily a reflection of the Enlightenment mind. Rationality is its core concept and the concept of Modernity is its socialized from of presentation. This thus can be concluded that all of the knowledge in whatever version are ”local” in nature. It in turn convinces us that indigenization is possible and also becomes necessary so far as an alternative local viewpoint is concerned.