Værdifri eller værdifuld? Socialkonstruktivisme mellem sociologi og filosofi

Social constructivism is a confusing subject, which is being discussed in many disciplines, among them sociology and philosophy. In a sociological perspective the confrontation with realism leads to a more important distinction within social constructivism, between a value free and a valuable type, and that distinction is given substance by confronting the sociologies of Marx and Durkheim with that of Weber. So sociological theories are social constructivists, but there are other kinds of theoretical approaches to societal issues, which are not, especially those which employ an empiricist theory of knowledge and a liberal independent actor, and in this philosophical perspective the discussion with realism again becomes important. The distinction between the value free and valuable perspective is further developed in relation to the theory-practice and knowledge-consciousness distinctions, and all these distinctions are used to differentiate between various types of modern social constructivism. Social constructivism is thus both a confliction discourse within sociology, between sociology and other types of societal thinking, and between sociology and philosophical theory of knowledge.