Article Title：Winch, Wittgenstein and the idea of a critical social theory
Abstract：
The received understanding of Winch's critique of social science is that he propounded a radically relativist, anti-explanatory and a-critical conception of the legitimate task of 'social studies'. This conception is presumed to be predicated upon an extension of Wittgenstein in's critique of philosophy. I argue, against this view, that Winch reads Wittgenstein through a Kantian framework, and that in fact he advanced a rigorously essentialist and universalist picture of 'social phenomena'. It is Winch's underlying Kantian metaphysics that has made his ideas attractive to contemporary architects of critical social theory such as Giddens and Habermas. However, in opposition to the latter, and in spite of his Kantianism, I discern in Winch a genuinely critical attitude towards social understanding.
Keywords: critical social theory; Giddens; Habermas; Wittgenstein
DOI: 10.1177/09526950022120610
Source：HISTORY OF THE HUMAN SCIENCES
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