Dichotomies Reconsidered: Towards More Reliable Conceptual Tools of Social Science in the Digital Age

Abstract

This chapter examines binary oppositions in social sciences. There are four types of such concepts in the tradition of social thought identified, which might be labelled as 4D of social sciences: dualism, dialectic, distinction and dichotomy. Dualisms rest on assumptions of polarized nature of a substance and are ontological in their matter; dialectic is primarily a methodological tool of comprehending opposites in their dynamical relation; distinctions are logical instruments that enable observing an aspect of reality different than the other, while a dichotomy presumes that an entity consists of two confronted categories. A special attention is given to dichotomies as most frequently present form of 4D’s in the legacy of social sciences. On the one hand, their epistemological merits as a heuristic tool in depicting emerging modern societies opposite to traditional societies are acclaimed; on the other hand, they are unfolded as contentious forms of concepts, often providing over simplistic image of a far more complex social reality. Therefore, in the final section, possible refinements of dichotomies in direction of their capability to grasp intermediaries and fine details between the two opposites are discussed. This discussion is set in the framework of recent attempts of digitization of a social theory, though combination of digital and analogue mode of theorizing is suggested in the final instance.