SOCIOLOGY AND HISTORY: NOTES ON RAPPROCHEMENT

Restivo, Sal P.

Publication

SOCIOLOGY AND HISTORY: NOTES ON RAPPROCHEMENT

Restivo, Sal P.

Abstract

The bases for distinguishing between sociology and history are examined and found to be insupportable insofar as the subject matter of the two disciplines coincides. The distinctions between (1) ideographic and nomothetic science, (2) art and science, and (3) humanism and science have been used to justify separating historical from sociological inquiry; in fact, these distinctions are not logically relevant to identifying fields of inquiry. This argument is supported by considering the logic of inquiry, as well as by studying the research activities of historians and sociologists. Rapprochement between history and ,sociology is urged to erase logical contradictions, and to wed humanistic and artistic concerns with the "science" of sociological inquiry.