But What Is Sociology?

In this contribution to a symposium, "Does the Prospect of a General Sociological Theory Still Mean Anything (in Times of Globalization)?," Baechler conceives of sociology, like philosophy & history, as a discipline rather than a science. These disciplines are quite distinct from the sciences of economics, politics, religion, etc, though the two often go hand in hand or overlap each other. Each object of study should be explored & understood at three different levels of reality. Clausewitz's On War is considered as an illustrative example of this. The concrete, scientific object, 'war', is studied sociologically, historically, & philosophically. Baechler claims never to found it possible to identify a single human event without this combined approach. Thus, it is argued, sociology has gone plural, & even sociologists are not very clear on what sociology is. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright 2007.]