Review: The Sacred Project of American Sociology,' Part III | National Catholic Reporter

Review: The Sacred Project of American Sociology,' Part III | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: MSW reports that modern sociology begins where absolutism ends, taking the mantle of ethics from philosophy departments and taking it into itself.  Of course, the existence of a sociology department did not stop people from taking philosophy classes in my day, some 35 years ago.  I suspect it depends on what is offered and required where one is in school.  I had to take either philosophy or religion courses, and as a pre-law student (or so I thought), I had to take ethics (and accounting - which I have used more).  Of course, before sociology existed, there was anthropology, whose main aim was justifying the mastery of the white race.  Sadly, the review did not mention that fact, and I suspect neither did the book.



The contention that ethics has gone to sociology is partly true - although everyone has some kind of ethical dimension, from religion and philosophy to political science to history to economics. Indeed, if you want to find out about Hume, you can go to most of those departments, since Classical social scientists were considered philosophers first, with the rest following - hence the title doctor of philosophy.  Sociology has the same stable of classical thinkers - and unlike political science - when you publish, statistical regression (or worse) is not required (I hope).  Sociology has sought to study ethical systems - sometimes from the perspective of what is right but more often on who is right and how such systems are developed.  Feminist studies particularly look at the effect of the Patriarchy - especially when looking at religion - particularly Catholicism.  Needless to say, the hierarchy of the Church does not like their gaze - especially on pelvic issues from ordination to the fortnight for freedom on contraceptive mandates.



As I stated in a previous section, one of the most effective tools in sociology and in all the social sciences is the Cultural Theory (Grid/Group) of Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky.  You can use their typology to map out both cultures and points of view in terms of what is proscribed (sacred) and its degree of group cohesion/power.  Indeed, Smith and this book can even be pegged into the theory.  Even religious authors use its tools, especially Elaine Paigels in her Abominations of Leviticus and her recent exploration into the Book of Revelation (turns out that the Pauline Church was the beast - and the beast won).



The state of sociology, and for that matter political science and theology, is due to the need to publish to get tenure - with publication dependent on peer review.  In essence, it is determined by the professors themselves.  While academic freedom exists once one is established, newbies do need to be orthodox for their discipline. Doctoral school is where people are weeded out, not deliberately, but by self-selection in terms of both the methods and ideas of the discipline.  We can wonder whether a paradigm shift is possible.  I believe they most certainly are, but such shifts are not usually led by assistant professors and graduate students.  Undergraduates have a roll to.  If the coursework interests them, they take it.  If not, classes get canceled and  professors must teach during the summer to cover workload requirements.  It seems that the social sciences and academia don't lead the culture so much as reflect it (and their students mostly are marking time as undergraduates with a major they enjoy to give them the highest GPA possible so that they can get that MSW, MBA,. MD or JD).  I left out the math and science students.  They get their jobs, with or without graduate school - and take the social sciences for either an easy A or just to get division requirements met.



So, what about Christian thinking?  As I said, the Church is a human institution which teaches about human conduct (over and above any message of salvation).  Should sociology, including sociology in its sacred project on equality and freedom, study the Church?  Absolutely!  To the extent that the Church is fairly lousy about studying itself, outside prophesy is essential - and probably inspired!  Indeed, that is the question we can ask about sociology that it can't ask for itself - is God working through it?  As a believer, I have to say yes - because God works through everyone, with or without their consent.