About the Phenomenological Statute of Social Issues: The Beginning of a Pure Sociology

This article is part of a forthcoming book on the problems of social phenomenology, based on readings of the work of Alfred Schutz and his significance for contemporary social theory. Here, we will concentrate on the preliminary problems of a pure sociology. We will investigate the meaning of the categorial act according to Husserl, aiming to enlighten the fundamental question of the ontological statute of social issues. We will notice that a longstanding sociological tradition, which begins with Durkheim and continues until Schutz, has faced this issue in an unfruitful way. We will see, in both works, a “Kantian dilemma” which we believe would find solution in the Husserlian conception of the categorial act. We hope to make, with this work, a modest contribution to a future pure sociology