ABSTRACT
G. Thomas notes meanings ranging from personal theory to grand theory, and questions the use of grand or ‘scientific’ theory in the social sciences at all, stating that the allure of theory in the social sciences rests on its success in the natural sciences. In sociology, constructing and testing social theory is absolutely central to the work of sociologists. A Jewish, Hungarian born philosopher of mathematics and science, Imre Lakatos, like Karl Popper, was attracted in his youth to Marxism. During the Nazi occupation of Hungary, he joined a Marxist resistance group, eluding the Nazis by changing his name. Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist. With training in biology, he was interested in biological influences on cognitive development. Erik Erikson was a German-born American psychologist and psychoanalyst who developed what became an influential theory of psychological development. Pierre Bourdieu’s terminology and his propositions about social reproduction have become part of the common lexicon in several social science fields.
