Publication Details
On Various Levels of Functionalism
Abstract
The paper examines various forms of functionalism seen from the perspective of its effectiveness in social knowledge. The essenatial characteristics of the functionalist perspective in sociology are shortly outlined (É. Durkheim. T. Parsons, Robert K. Meiton) and the distinction between functioanlism as a mehod and functionalism as a theory is made. Nevertheless, the author focuses on the plausibility of explanation and of the functional analysis and on its effectiveness. Its logical structure, as well as the empirical significance of the premises of the functionalist argumentation and its predictive effectiveness is examined . On the ground of the criticism of functionalism as an explanatory procedure the autor analyzes the role of functionalism in cretaing the ontology of social reality (J. R. Searle).