ABSTRACT
In seeking a disciplinary space for sociological research and academic recognition for himself through the Society, Weber had aimed at least in part to use this forum as an opportunity to foster academic discussion between disciplines, and to differentiate the parameters of his vision of sociology as a distinctive scientific m ethod and discursive genre (Kaesler, 2002: 159-62). His remarks at these meetings are thus in large part concerned with deter mining both the limits of social scientific thought and speech, and the possi bilities of sociological writing and research precisely by not respecting the separations between established intellectual disciplines and specialized scholarly discourses (cf. Todorov, 1976/1977: 159). His contributions at the first meeting of the Society are thus situated between a desire to assert the autonomy and innovative character of sociology, and the need to address issues and follow principles already established by other sciences.
