Alfred Schutz and the ‘Objectifying Attitude’

Abstract

Alfred Schutz argues that social scientists should interpret social life from the standpoint of the subjective meanings of ordinary actors, while themselves maintaining a detached, ‘objectifying’ attitude. This defence of the objectifying stance in social research has been criticised by some commentators, notably by Jürgen Habermas, on the grounds that it contradicts the phenomenological theory of intersubjectivity and interpretive participation from which Schutz sets out. Habermas in particular argues that validity in social science consists in the pursuit of normative dialogue between researchers and laypeople with a view to ‘consensus’ over beliefs and values. This article disputes any such charge of inconsistency in Schutz by arguing that while social-scientific knowledge may originate from communication in the lifeworld, it cannot itself involve a ‘communicative’ or ‘dialogical’ attitude to the subjects of research.