Towards a tragic social science: Critique, translation, and performance. (June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Han, Sam
• Is Part Of: Thesis eleven. Volume 170:Number 1(2022)
• Page Start: 9
• Page End: 27
• Publication Date: 2022-06
• Subjects: tragedy -- social theory -- Lucien Goldmann -- Georg Lukacs -- posthumanism -- critique; Social sciences -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; 301
• DOI: 10.1177/07255136221093414
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0725-5136

Abstract

Taking 'the idea of the tragic' as a point of departure, this article articulates an approach to sociology and social theory from the perspective of a 'tragic vision'. In arguing for the relevance of 'tragic thought' for the analysis of contemporary crises, it suggests that 'the tragic' must be understood as a reflection of the long tail of the formation of a particular secular, modern 'ethico-onto-epistemology'. In making this case, the article provides an 'interpretive genealogy' of tragic ethics in social thought, detailing the thought of Lucien Goldmann and Georg Lukács, and putting it in dialogue with contemporary posthumanist theory. It concludes by drawing on recent debates in the latter involving the place of 'critique' in contemporary social science, teasing out some implications for thinking about individual action and responsibility.