Perspectivism

‘This is an ambitious book. Its primary purpose is to show that ‘perspectivism’ – a perspectival view of the world – is the most effective and productive approach for use in the social sciences. It argues that perspectivism implies looking at questions from as many different perspectives as possible and, used in the proper way, this approach will enable the social sciences to escape its present stasis and begin to make progress, not unlike the natural sciences. Employed as the book suggests, it will not only end the seemingly interminable disputes about terminology, but also resolve core problems concerning method, truth and objectivity.’ - Trevor Hussey, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Buckinghamshire New University, UK

‘Ken Smith provides a comprehensive and impassioned discussion of the idea of perspectivism in social thought. Tracing the development of the idea through Nietzsche, Mannheim, Weber, and Peirce, he shows how objects of sociological knowledge can be seen as related to the point of view of the observer and yet have an objectivity that warrants us to talk about the ‘truth’ of sociological ideas. This arises from the recognition of a plurality of legitimate perspectives on an externally real world that provides the basis for assessing empirical validity. Perspectivism, properly understood, leads not to relativism but to the possibility for advances in sociological understanding that Smith sketches through considerations on power, equality, crime, and sexual difference.’ – John Scott, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Plymouth, UK

"This is an ambitious book. Its primary purpose is to show that ‘perspectivism’ – a perspectival view of the world – is the most effective and productive approach for use in the social sciences. It argues that perspectivism implies looking at questions from as many different perspectives as possible and, used in the proper way, this approach will enable the social sciences to escape its present stasis and begin to make progress, not unlike the natural sciences. Employed as the book suggests, it will not only end the seemingly interminable disputes about terminology, but also resolve core problems concerning method, truth and objectivity."

Trevor Hussey, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Buckinghamshire New University, UK

"Ken Smith provides a comprehensive and impassioned discussion of the idea of perspectivism in social thought. Tracing the development of the idea through Nietzsche, Mannheim, Weber, and Peirce he shows how objects of sociological knowledge can be seen as related to the point of view of the observer. Perspectivism, properly understood, leads not to relativism but to the possibility for advances in sociological understanding that Smith sketches through considerations on power, equality, crime, and sexual difference."

John Scott, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Plymouth University, UK

"Perspectivism can be read as a debate with W. B. Gallie’s influential 1956 article on ‘essentially contested concepts’. Many critics of sociology have concluded that all sociological concepts fall under the ECC umbrella. Smith provides a route, authoritative and comprehensive, out of the dead-end. Two other conclusions are important. ECCs are in fact rare and typically occur in relation to disputes about religion or culture. Smith’s typology will transform the debate in resolving puzzles over such conceptual confusion. The second important observation is that sociologists have been too ready to accept subjectivity, when such surrender was unnecessary. Perspectivism, a tour de force in social theory, takes the Gallie legacy to a new level."

Bryan S. Turner, Professor of Sociology, Australian Catholic University, Australia

"Ken Smith’s very stimulating book has in a sense two starting points. One is to take the notion of perspective literally, in its visual sense, in the opening pages, the numerous diagrams and the appendix. The other starting point is Walter B. Gallie’s classic paper of 1956 on "Essentially Contested Concepts," which he had first addressed in a paper from 2002 and which has been very widely discussed before and after that date, notably in a massive article in the Journal of Political Ideologies and in Steven Lukes’s classic Power: A Radical View.

If Smith takes perspective literally, he very properly takes "concepts," as Gallie had done, in a broader sense. Just as a train can hide another (in the classic French warning sign), behind many concepts there are others, and often entire world-views. "Concept formation" or Begriffsbildung always means this broader notion of conceptualization. Gallie’s claim, in essence, was that some disputes over concepts such as art or democracy are irreducible because of this Hinterland of background assumptions. Positivists tend to brush aside "mere" definitional questions...Realists, by contrast, argue that real definitions are truth-functional and, if successful (as far as we can judge at present), capture real features of the things they designate. Smith does not enter these controversies, except in passing, but argues for a synthetic perspective which brings together alternative definitions or descriptions and assesses them for their explanatory power."

William Outhwaite, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University, UK, ‘A Perspective on Perspectivism’, Teorie Vědy/Theory of Science (2023)