Thomas Eberle
Title
Prof. em. Dr.
Last Name
Eberle
First name
Thomas
Email
thomas.eberle@unisg.ch
ORCID
179 results
Now showing 1 - 10 of 179
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Item type:Publication, The Methodological Concept of Adequacy from a Historical PerspectiveThe aim of this essay is to reconstruct the history of the methodological concept of adequacy, its origin, its development and shifts in conception. The concept of “adequate causation” was introduced by physiologist Johannes von Kries based on his theory of probability. He proclaimed that the contrary of an “accidental” causation is not a “necessary” causation but an “adequate” causation, which means that a result is caused with a certain, significant (objective) probability. This concept was eagerly discussed by philosophers of law and had a profound influence on Max Weber who applied it to historical and sociological analysis. Weber made “causal adequacy” a methodological postulate of sociology and coupled it with “meaning adequacy”. Alfred Schutz, who intended to provide Weber’s sociology with a philosophical foundation, rejected causal adequacy as inadequate for the social sciences and merged the two postulates into one. His definitions of the postulate of adequacy are, however, somewhat inconsistent and seem to reduce it sometimes to mere understandability, dropping the requirement of coherence of experience or, in modern terms, empirical validation. This inconsistency and its implications are discussed in some depth. Based on Schutz, Harold Garfinkel developed ethnomethodology and interpreted the postulate of adequacy in this new context. We discuss the weak and the strong version of the “unique adequacy criterion” and some of their implications. The conclusion recapitulates the crucial insights of this journey.Type:journal articleJournal:Human StudiesVolume:48Issue:4Scopus© Citations 1 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Concepts of Realism in Constructivist ApproachesThe thesis of this paper is that the debate on realism versus constructivism is misconceived as there exist many different variants of constructivism, each of which operates with a certain, albeit minimalist social ontology. Different concepts of realism are carved out in phenomenology, Berger and Luckmann’s social constructivism, ethnomethodology, relational constructionism, and, finally, communicative constructivism. A differentiated view is recommended.Type:journal articleJournal:Sociologica. International Journal for Sociological DebateVolume:17Issue:1 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, In memoriam Peter Gross (3. Oktober 1941 – 25. Januar 2023)This obituary for Peter Gross, Professor of Sociology at the University of St. Gallen, who died in 2023 and who researched and taught at the University of St. Gallen from 1989-2006, provides an overview of his academic work.Type:journal articleJournal:SoziologieVolume:52Issue:3 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, A Study in Xenological Phenomenology: Alfred Schutz’s Stranger RevisitedType:journal articleJournal:Schutzian ResearchVolume:13Scopus© Citations 5 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Análisis fenomenológico del mundo de la vida e investigación interpretativa: La importancia del postulado de adecuación en la obra de Alfred SchutzThe aim of the present paper is to specify and discuss the relation between the phenomenological lifeworld analysis developed by Alfred Schutz and the methodology of the social sciences. First, the Schutzian project of providing a phenomenological foundation for the social sciences is outlined. Second, I present Schutz’s postulates concerning social-scientific constructions. Then, I analyze the way in which Max Weber and Schutz conceive of the so-called postulate of adequacy. Finally, some contemporary attempts to apply the lifeworld analysis to empirical social research are presented.Type:journal articleJournal:Revista DiferenciasVolume:7 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Finding Self, Sense, and Sense Making after a Cerebral HemorrhageThis essay presents an analysis of a patient’s experiences after she had a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and was put into an artificial coma. Her husband, a sociologist, collected a wealth of different sorts of data during the many years of recovery. When the patient had recovered, they collaboratively reconstructed and analyzed what she had experienced. Phenomenological concepts proved helpful for interpreting the patient’s experiences at different stages such as her disorientation after awakening from the coma, the blurred borders between fact and fiction, her problems with time and space, her loss of smell, her oscillation between despair and overestimation of her capabilities in the rehabilitation clinic and her long way “back to normal”. The social context of family support is considered, and conclusions are drawn what sociologists can learn from this case.Type:journal articleJournal:Journal of Applied Social ScienceVolume:13Issue:2Scopus© Citations 1 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
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Item type:Publication, Klassiker der Organisationsforschung (28): Erving Goffman. Was geht hier eigentlich vor?Type:journal articleJournal:Organisationsentwicklung : Zeitschrift für Unternehmensentwicklung und Change ManagementVolume:37Issue:2 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Methodological Reflexivity(Seismo Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2016-12); - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Exploring Another's Subjective Life-World : A phenomenological approachRegarding the relationship between phenomenology and the social sciences, significantly different traditions exist between German-speaking countries and the Anglo-Saxon world, which create many misunderstandings. Phenomenology is not just a research method; in its origin, it is a philosophy and has epistemological and methodological implications for empirical research. This essay pursues several goals: First, some basic tenets of Husserl's phenomenology and Schutz's mundane life-world analysis are restated. Second, an approach of "phenomenological hermeneutics" is presented that complies with the postulate of adequacy and aspires to understand other people's life-worlds more profoundly than the widely accepted research practice of treating interview transcripts as data. The methodical procedure is illustrated using selected pieces from a case study of a patient who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and became severely disoriented. Third, some crucial implications of such an approach are discussed in regard to a phenomenology-based ethnography.Type:journal articleJournal:Journal of Contemporary EthnographyIssue:2Scopus© Citations 12