Alfred Schutz

Sociology Austrian-American 1899 – 1959 105 quotes

Developed phenomenological sociology, focusing on the subjective meanings and interpretations that individuals bring to social life.

Quotes by Alfred Schutz

The 'relevance structures' organize our experience of the world.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'finite provinces of meaning' are distinct realms of experience, each with its own cognitive style.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'paramount reality' is the world of working, of everyday life.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'alter ego' is constituted through our experience of the other.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'stream of consciousness' is the fundamental flow of our subjective experience.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'project' is the basic unit of human action.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'motive' is the 'because' or 'in order to' of an action.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'reciprocity of perspectives' is a fundamental assumption of social interaction.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'social act' is an act that takes into account the other.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'world of contemporaries' is the world of those with whom we share a common present.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'world of predecessors' is the world of those who have lived before us.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'world of successors' is the world of those who will live after us.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'ideal type' is a methodological tool for understanding social phenomena.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'postulate of adequacy' requires that scientific constructs be understandable to the actor in everyday life.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'postulate of logical consistency' requires that scientific constructs be logically coherent.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'postulate of subjective interpretation' requires that scientific constructs refer to the subjective meaning of action.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'world of signs and symbols' is the medium through which we communicate and understand each other.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'social distribution of knowledge' refers to how knowledge is shared and organized in a society.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'taken-for-granted' is the foundation of all social interaction.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962

The 'bracketed world' is the world of scientific inquiry, where the natural attitude is suspended.

Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality 1962