interactions that take place between them. Yet, in most cases, the communi-
tarian’s own account of sociality shows little of the richness and sophistication
of, say, American functionalist sociology or symbolic interactionism. The
most notable exception here is the work of Charles Taylor, whoseSources of
the Selfis, for all its limitations, a major contribution to the study of human
sociality.
3 Concluding Remarks
.........................................................................................................................................................................................
In summary, the most significant difference between conventional political
theory and conventional social theory concerns the relationship between
normative and descriptive/explanatory issues in the analysis of social/polit-
ical life: most (but not all) political theorists focus on the first set of issues,
while social theorists generally believe that the two cannot be separated.
Partly for this reason, most social scientists regard political theory as simply
a sub-branch of social theory. Whether or not one agrees with this view, our
discussion above suggests that political theorists would do well to acknow-
ledge how much is shared between political theory and social theory. This is,
in part, a product of their common intellectual history, but it also stems from
their shared Western cultural origins, and their consequent basis in the same
set of unquestioned assumptions. Both are dominated by the figure of man
which, as we have noted, is not simply an epistemic or cultural construct but
also apoliticalone. Consequently this figure—and the developmental and
elitist view of humanity which it promotes—will continue to shape both
bodies of thought while the current system of states and societies, and the
forms of government which operate within, above, and through them,
continue to dominate political and social life.
References
Althusser, L.‘ 1971. Ideology and the ideological state apparatuses. Pp. 121 – 76 in
L. Althusser,Lenin and Philosophy, London: New Left Books.
Aristotle 1988.The Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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