Resumen

TRIPIER, Pierre. What if different and opposing views of sociology were complementary to each other?: Reflections about the genesis of the collective life knowledge. CONfines relacion. internaci. ciencia política [online]. 2006, vol.2, n.4, pp.11-26. ISSN 1870-3569.

Sociology was born at a time when the Newtonian paradigm was introduced as the hegemonic scientific model. However, this model was not sufficient to understand complex and unstable situations. The model was a unitary explanatory system that not only considered time and space as absolute, but is also drew sociology away from medicine, history, geography and the art of governing. With sociology, these disciplines could have been better understood. That is, when the Newtonian paradigm was discussed from the point of view of thermodynamics, quantum physics, and restricted relativity, other perspectives -dialogic and interactionists- could have conquered legitimate positions in the social sciences so as to compete with these deterministic points of view. Today, a third phase of evolution in physics and biology has allowed for non-contradictory stands in their different perspectives primarily because of the division of work and the awareness of their complementary elements. This question is could this also occuir in sociology?

Palabras llave : sociological theory; history of science; determinism; evolutionism.