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The Moral Dimension in Sociological Theory and Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Robert C. Angell*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Extract

The word “moral” gets a social scientist into trouble. A few years ago a colleague of mine strongly advised against my using it in the title of a monograph. On the face of it the term seems to some people unscientific; moreover, it is ambiguous. One has to explain tediously what one means by it. These would seem to be good reasons for avoiding its use altogether. They would be, except that no other word describes what I want to discuss.

It is true of course that the term moral has to do with values. But it has reference to an aspect of human life, and one that can be studied objectively. Religious phenomena have not been thought unworthy of research just because there are strong value elements in them.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 1959

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References

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