The Concept of Society in the Existential Sociology of Michael Weinstein

Abstract

The paper presents a general historical and theoretical description of the existential sociology project of American scientist Michael Weinstein. This interdisciplinary approach is based on the interpretation of society as «active transcendence», which is aimed to overcome the classical subject-object dichotomy of sociology and the extremes of its positivist and constructivist positions. Important features of Weinstein’s existential sociology are an appeal to the problem of the history of this direction, the criticism of sociological objectivism and an attempt to general theoretical conceptualization of existentialism as applied to the study of society. Among the central problems and corresponding notions of existential sociology, unity of experience, authenticity, sensory states and emotions, uncertainty of social phenomena, goal orientations and such negative effects of mass society as egotism, double morality, corroboration, alienation and despair are allotted. It is also noted that the main perspective of development of this approach is the study of different modes of social involvement from position of dialectical dynamics of authentic existence and the objectified processes of social reality.