Like rational choice theory, conflict theory, or functionalism, pure sociology is a sociological paradigm — a strategy for explaining human behavior. Developed by Donald Black as an alternative to individualistic and social-psychological theories, pure sociology was initially used to explain variation in legal behavior. Since then, Black and other pure sociologists have used the strategy to explain terrorism, genocide, lynching, and other forms of conflict management as well as science, art, and religion.
Etymology and history The term "pure sociology" has evolved through two distinct academic traditions: the classical evolutionary approach of the early 20th century and the modern structural-scientific approach of the late 20th century.
Lester Frank Ward (1903) The conceptual distinction between "pure" and "applied" sociology was first established by Lester Frank Ward, the inaugural president of the American Sociological Association. In his foundational work, Pure Sociology (1903), Ward defined pure sociology as the study of the "is"—the origin, nature, and spontaneous development of social structures and processes. He argued that pure sociology must remain value-neutral, focusing on how society actually functions, while applied sociology (the "ought") focuses on how society should be improved through social engineering.
European Formal Sociology Parallel to the American tradition, European scholars such as Ferdinand Tönnies utilized the term reine Soziologie (pure sociology) to describe the creation of purely conceptual frameworks. Tönnies's pure sociology consisted of "ideal types" and axiomatic constructs, such as Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, which serve as analytical tools to interpret empirical social reality.
Modern paradigm: social geometry In contemporary theory, pure sociology is most closely associated with Donald Black. Black's paradigm represents a radical shift toward social geometry, explaining social life strictly through its location and direction in a multidimensional social space. This model identifies five primary variables of social space:
Stratification: The vertical aspect of social space, or the uneven distribution of material resources. Morphology: The horizontal aspect, including the degree of social integration and relational distance. Culture: The symbolic aspect, such as religion, language, or aesthetics. Organization: The corporate aspect, or the capacity for collective action. Social Control: The normative aspect, defining what is right or wrong and how people respond to deviant behavior.
Epistemology Pure sociology explains social life with its social geometry. Social life refers to any instance of human behavior—such as law, suicide, gossip, or art — while the social geometry of a behavior, also called its social structure, refers to the social characteristics of those involved—such as their degree of past interaction or their level of wealth. To some extent this approach draws from aspects of earlier sociological work, ranging from Durkheim's emphasis on social explanations for individual behavior to later work in the variation of police (and other legal) behavior.
Differences Virtually all sociology explains the behavior of people—whether groups or individuals—with some reference to their mental constructs (psychology) or the purposes of their action (teleology). But pure sociology reconceptualizes human behavior as social life—something that does not exist in the mind, is not explainable by the aims of actions, and is supraindividual. Pure sociology, then, can be distinguished from other sociological paradigms by what is absent from it: psychology, teleology, and even people as such. Pure sociology's focus on a unique social reality may sound Durkheimian, but Black views the approach as "more Durkheimian than Durkheim."
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