From reductionism to synthesis in social theory: Berger and Luckmann

When considering the development of social theory until today, we can see the domination of reductionist approaches regarding to the subject of sociology. These approaches degrade the subject of sociology to macro frame as class, division of labor, state, institution or to everyday life which is in micro frame as individual actions and the relationships between people. Nowadays there are more integrated, synthetic approaches for the determination of the sociology's subject. The prominent example of synthesist approach in specification of sociology's object is Berger's and Luckmann's social constructionist approach. At this point the main purpose of the study is the analyzing of Berger's and Luckmann's views about the subject of sociology. To achieve this objective firstly the subject of sociology according to reductionist approaches has been identified and then has been discussed that Berger and Luckmann put forward by synthesis the subject of sociology as individuals-society dialectical. Berger's and Luckmann's synthisist, dialectical approaches has been produced with the moment of externalization, objectivation and internalization. At the end of the study it has been identified that in determination of the subject of sociology, Berger's and Luckmann's dialectical approach is more functional and more effective than other social theories; and it has been shown that the addressed the subject of sociology, integrated with thelogic of "both…and…" instead of the reductionist approaches logic which is "either… or…"