Memorandum for the Future of Anthropology and Sociology

Abstract

In contemporary Anthropology and Sociology, there has emerged a movement to search for a new frame of reference for both disciplines regardless of differences in their respective concepts, models, and theories. Whatever such a frame of reference may be, both disciplines must heighten the need for abductive thinking in the course of their field research, and in the examination of collected data. While abduction, as Charles Peirce pointed out, "depends on our hope to guess at the conditions under which a given kind of phenomenon will present itself," the consideration of hope has seldom been found in these two disciplines. This paper attempts to show, making use of a case of freeter research, how the perspective of the social value of Anthropology and Sociology can be opened up toward advancing the study of hope.