Holding the world together...

Gar and Bors discussing about the fine art of Cuisine Photography


I am beginning to understand the frustration held by Durkheim and Weber when they pursued their then fledgeling discipline within the sphere of the social sciences. How do you approach conceptual facts that lack physical manifestations deemed requisite for an empirical inquiry? The utilitarian foundations of traditional approaches seem quick to dismiss ideational factors in their pursuit of methodological rigor, not fully grasping the vast chasm of distinction that divided the natural from the social, the relational from the substantial, the transcendant from the immanent. Take for example, the social fact of treats. It is a fact irrefutable that Bors has treated Gar, Lea and me to dinner tonight. Simply because there is no physical manifestation of the phenomenon of the treat doesn't mean that it did not happen. Ask Bors, who is several thousand yen poorer, whether the treat happened or not, and you might get punched. Tell Bors that he has no absolute, measurable, and specific proof that such a treat had occured, and you may not survive to see the light of day. But the social fact, intangible as it is, survives through the significance imprinted upon the canvas of consciousness interwoven between four souls who dined at Darjeeling Cafe a few hours ago, not to mentioned the stinging wrath of a proprieter indignant at the wanton flashes during dinner time. As such, as immaterial as the social fact of the treat was (except, perhaps, for Boris' wallet), it is something that will live forever through the social fabric interspersing four individuals tonight.
Thanks, Bors! Appreciate it!