Examination of institutions in social sciences: to articulation of the problem of philosophical analysis

Abstract

In recent decades, the problematic of social institutions has come to the forefront in foreign and national social science. It is justified by the fact that namely the institutional environment determines the success of social interactions and utilization of resources for moving towards the evolutionary scenario of development. The author gives close attention to the existing within national and foreign discourse definition of the basic object, and critically assesses the overall state of institutional research in social sciences. The discovered disciplinary narrowness and penchant for field-specific interests despite ambitious demands advance by, for example, economic sciences, substantiate the need for detailed philosophical analysis of social institutions. The author's special contribution lies in critical assessment of the available range of theoretical material in the area of sociological, economic, legal and political sciences. The article demonstrates the continuity and overall dynamics of disciplinary research of the institutions within the discourse of social sciences. The importance of interdisciplinary consideration of problematic areas in the institutional research is emphasized. Link between the effectiveness of functionality of the institutions and cognitive characteristics is traced. The value of constructivist approach is evident due to the increasing role of ideas in social sciences. In conclusion, the author conflates the strong and weak sides of disciplinary works, anticipating future research on the development of the ultimate grounds of institutions.