Faculty Lunch Talk - Adaner Usmani, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Social Studies

The Morality of Sociology

Abstract:

Most sociologists study social problems, like the distribution of resources, freedom and social standing. But how should we pick which problems to study? And what would it mean to help solve them? When confronted with these normative questions, most social scientists defer to extra-rational commitments or to the authority of others. But these strategies imply that normative claims are not truth-apt, which gives us no way of distinguishing emancipatory from idle or reactionary sociology. Thus, I argue that emancipatory sociologists must be moral realists. Realism about ethics gives emancipatory sociology firm foundation. By linking sociology to moral and political philosophy, it can improve our ability to identify, study and solve social problems. I suggest four ways to develop this approach in our discipline.

Lunch will be served.