The hermeneutic perspective of Charles Taylor
There is broad agreement among epistemologists that the social sciences are interpretative sciences. This way of thinking, however, must be qualified. Many sociologists are familiar with a Weberian approach ; far fewer are familiar with a hermeneutic perspective. One exception is Charles Taylor, whose work best clarifies the subject. In this article, I examine his philosophy of social sciences from three frames of reference. The first is Taylor’s use of the hermeneutic philosophies advanced by Heidegger and Gadamer to develop an original cultural critique. The second explores the methodology known as “contrasting” ; what counterpoints do we use to compare or juxtapose our modern lifestyles in order to better understand them ? The sociology of religions offers a plausible, but not totally satisfactory, approach for addressing this issue. The third frame of reference focuses on the historicity of the social sciences and the philosophical dependence, including that of their conceptual frameworks, on what Taylor calls “modern social imaginaries.” How, for example, do we ensure that this methodological dependence does not transform the social sciences into little more than an orthodoxy of investigative inquiry with scientific pretensions ? Upon what should we base our reflection ? A possible solution to this dilemma is proposed, based on a comparison of the philosophical perspectives championed by Taylor and Pierre Bourdieu.