Abstract
Znaniecki's initial interests were mainly philosophical until his collaboration with Thomas. His contribution to The Polish Peasant was predominantly methodological. It was an attempt to synthesise grand theory and empiricism, to recover the legacy of positivism while undertaking its critique. Znaniecki's epistemology rests on the neo-Kantian demarcation between the natural and the cultural sciences. The latter investigate the relationship of human beings with symbolic objects, i.e. values. Since they live in society, individuals are endowed with a value system which enables them to communicate. Conversely, cultural systems are made up of real flesh-and-blood human beings. Hence the sociologist must study them both as conscious and active subjects in society, and also as objects of interaction. A parallel with Weber may be drawn up, while the contract with Durkheimian sociology is obvious.
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