Values: can science study them? On the history, theory and methodology of the issue

Abstract

The place and role of values in scientific knowledge in general and in sociology in particular are discussed in the above paper. Values in the light of political sociology (political-ideological values) are compared with values themselves, which in the light of the sociology of knowledge appear as phenomenologically revealed initial givens. They form a core of the worldviews and worldview of each person as an individual. In the interpretation of values themselves, the author relies on his interpretation of the religious and philosophical axiology of M. Scheler. The author proves that, although all kinds of evaluativeness are subject to exclusion, “value neutrality” in social cognition is impossible in principle, therefore it is necessary to strive for its explication and articulation. The author questions the possibility of scientific-discursive knowledge of values, as well as respective attempts to study value consciousness empirically.