ABSTRACT
114This chapter explores the complex relationship between sociology and ethics. First, we discuss the narrow and technical issues raised by the idea that social research should be carried out with a regard for ethical practice. A checklist of questions is then provided, which will be useful when doing research. Second, we turn to some larger issues, like the silence of sociology in the face of evil. We argue via a case study that conventional sociology has failed to address some central problems raised by radical evil. Moreover, the preoccupation with structural explanations has the effect of rendering sociologists unable to explore processes of moral deliberation, which amounts to a refusal of the moral.
