Sociology in the triangle of the humanly possible: a sociological contribution to the theoretical thematization of human ignorance, applied to the study of two cultural currents in contemporary Brazil: homeopathy and masculinism

• Grant number: 13/23766-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: July 01, 2014
• End date: March 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Fundamentals of Sociology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Leopoldo Garcia Pinto Waizbort
• Grantee: Lenin Bicudo Bárbara
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research aims to sort out and clarify some of the main problems regarding the sociological approach to ignorance (understood as a necessary component of human knowledge). It will comprise both the development of a thematic theory of ignorance highlighting its sociological conditionings and an empirical investigation. The epistemological dimension of the attempted theoretical thematization of ignorance will be guided by German philosophy, and its sociological aspect by a selective reconstruction of the social theory of Alfred Schütz (1899-1959). The empirical dimension will focus on the study of two separated cultural currents, both characterized by a narrow, yet discernible participation in the cultural life of contemporary Brazil, namely: homeopathy and masculinism - both reliant on doctrines that turn out untenable as soon as one checks them carefully enough against the available stock of knowledge. I will try to isolate and understand the elements of these doctrines most directly tied to the functioning of ignorance in the social world - meaning that the empirical analysis is here conceived not only as an exemplification of the theory, but as a means to its improvement. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LENIN BICUDO BÁRBARA. A busca por legitimação na cultura homeopática. Tempo Social, revista de sociologia da USP, v. 33, n. 3, p. 71-93, 2022-01-07. (13/23766-9)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

BÁRBARA, Lenin Bicudo. Investigations on human ignorance: an introduction to the study of ignorance, followed by a sociological inquiry into the persistance of homeopathy and the consolidation of masculinism now and then. 2018. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD) São Paulo.