Elsewhere 1 we were concerned with fundamental aspects of the question how man can comprehend his fellow-men. We analyzed man's subjective experiences of the Other and found in them the basis for his understanding of the Other's subjective processes of consciousness. The very assumption of the existence of the Other, however, introduces the dimension of intersub­ jectivity. The world is experienced by the Self as being inhabited by other Selves, as being a world for others and of others. As we had occasion to point out, intersubjective reality is by no means homogeneous. The social world in which man finds himself exhibits a complex structure; fellow-men appear to the Self under different aspects, to which correspond different cognitive styles by which the Self perceives and apprehends the Other's thoughts, motives, and actions. In the present investigation it will be our main task to describe the origin of the differentiated structures of social reality as well as to reveal the principles underlying its unity and coherence. It must be stressed that careful description of the processes which enable one man to understand another's thoughts and actions is a prerequisite for the methodology of the empirical social sciences. The question how a scientific interpretation of human action is possible can be resolved only if an adequate . From: De, sinnha/te A II/ball tler sowuen WeU, Vienna, 1932; 2nd ed. 1960 (Sektion IV: Strukturanalyse der Sozialwelt, Soziale Umwelt, Mitwelt, Vorwelt, English adaptation by Professor Thomas Luckmann.

Inhalt

I / Pure Theory.- The Social World and the Theory of Social Action.- The Dimensions of The Social World.- I. Introduction.- II. Social Reality within Reach of Direct Experience.- 1. The face-to-face situation and the "pure" we-relation.- 2. Social relations in the face-to-face situation.- 3. Direct observations.- III. The World of Contemporaries as a Structure of Typifications.- 1. The transition from direct to indirect experience of social reality.- 2. The contemporary as an ideal type and the they-relation.- 3. The strata of anonymity in the world of contemporaries.- 4. Social relations between contemporaries.- IV. The World of Predecessors and the Problem of History.- V. Glossary.- The Problem of Rationality in the Social World.- II / Applied Theory.- The Stranger: An Essay in Social Psychology.- The Homecomer.- The Well-Informed Citizen: An Essay on the Social Distribution of Knowledge.- Don Quixote and the Problem of Reality.- Making Music Together: A Study in Social Relationship.- Mozart and the Philosophers.- Santayana on Society and Government.- Equality and the Meaning Structure of the Social World.- I. Introduction.- II. The Social World as Taken for Granted and Its Structurization.- III. The Concept of Equality and the Structure of Relevance.- IV. The Various Interpretations of the World Taken for Granted.- 1. The self-interpretation of the world taken for granted by the in-group.- 2. The out-group's interpretation of the world taken for granted by the in-group.- 3. Interpretation of the order of relevances by the social scientist.- 4. Interpretation of the order of relevance from a philosophical, mythical, or theological basic position.- V. Subjective and Objective Interpretation.- A. Subjective and objective meaning of the concept "social group".- 1. Subjective meaning of group membership.- 2. Objective meaning of group membership.- B. Subjective and objective meaning of equality.- 1. Subjective and objective constitution of homogeneous domains of relevance.- 2. Discrimination and minority rights, subjectively and objectively interpreted.- 3. The order of domains of relevances, subjectively and objectively interpreted.- 4. Equality aimed-at and equality to-be-granted.- C. Subjective and objective meaning of equal opportunity.- Some Equivocations in the Notion of Responsibility.- Tiresias, or Our Knowledge of Future Events.