Foundations of Reflexive-functionalism

Abstract

The most important task in the present social sciences might be to construct social theory of the self-organity. This paper discusses, from the viewpoint of self-organity, the necessity and foundations of Reflexive-functionalism as a disconstruction of the former functionalism. The essential points of self-organity lie in self-referentiality in logic and self-reflexion in social science. Having rejected the problem of self-reflexion from its theory, the former functionalism cannot dispute sufficiently with the challenge of so called meaning school (phenomenological sociology, ethnomethodology, symbolic interactionism and so on). Moreover, the modern scientific view on which functionalism has depended is now being swayed by the problem of self-referentiality. To establish Reflexive-functionalism, based on scientific view of self-referentiality, which includes self-reflexive mechanism in its theory is an urgent problem, I would say. In this paper, I argue firstly the necessity for'overarching paradigm'that bridges over the diversified sociological paradigms thrown into confusion. Then, I state my opinion on scientific view of self-referentiality which includes the methodological viewpoint of Verstehende Wissenschaften. Finally, I give critical arguments on the former functionalism and discuss about the foundations of Reflexive-functionalism which adopts reflexive mechanism in both levels of action and system. Reflexive-functionalism is the very paradigm that bridges over the key concepts of social theory ; structure, function, and meaning.