Alfred Schütz (1899–1959)

Introduction & Biographical Context

Alfred Schütz was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1899. Trained initially in law and economics, he was deeply involved in the intellectual circles of early 20th-century Vienna, notably the Austrian School of Economics alongside thinkers like Ludwig von Mises.^[1] Forced to flee Europe in 1939 due to the rise of the Nazi regime, Schütz emigrated to the United States and joined the New School for Social Research in New York City, where he continued to develop his sociological theories until his death in 1959.^[1:1]

Schütz's primary intellectual ambition was to resolve the ambiguities in Max Weber's methodology—specifically Weber's concepts of Verstehen (understanding), subjective meaning, and "ideal types." To do this, he utilized the phenomenological tools developed by Edmund Husserl and the philosophy of time and consciousness put forward by Henri Bergson.^[2]

Intellectual Influences

Schütz's phenomenological sociology synthesized three primary intellectual streams:^[4]

• Edmund Husserl's Phenomenology: Schütz adopted Husserl's focus on human consciousness, intentionality, and the concept of the Lebenswelt (lifeworld).

• Max Weber's Interpretive Sociology: He sought to ground Weber's theories of social action and methodological individualism in a more rigorous philosophical understanding of subjective consciousness.

• Henri Bergson & William James: Schütz utilized their concepts of the "stream of consciousness" and "inner time" to explain how human beings process a constant flow of experiences into cohesive, meaningful typologies.^[4:1]

Core Theoretical Concepts

The Lifeworld (Lebenswelt)

The "lifeworld" is a concept Schütz adapted from Husserl. It refers to the pre-reflective, taken-for-granted world of everyday human experience.^[1:2] Actors in the lifeworld operate within a "natural attitude," meaning they suspend any philosophical doubt about the existence of the world and simply go about their daily routines.^[4:2] It is the foundational stratum of social reality where individuals work, interact, and communicate.

Intersubjectivity

A central problem in philosophy is how we can know the minds of others. Schütz's concept of intersubjectivity explains that the lifeworld is inherently a shared, public domain.^[5] Our experience of the world is intersubjective because we experience it with and through others. Schütz argued that humans assume a "reciprocity of perspectives," believing that if we changed places with someone else, we would see and experience the world in fundamentally the same way.^[2:1]

Typification and Recipes

To navigate the overwhelming complexity of sensory inputs and social interactions, humans rely on a "stock of knowledge" passed down socially and culturally.^[2:2]

• Typification: The process of classifying objects, people, and situations into broad categories based on past experiences. By ignoring unique, individualizing traits, actors can rely on expected "typical" behaviors. For instance, when mailing a letter, we rely on the "typification" of a postal worker rather than needing to know the specific person.^[6]

• Recipes: Standardized, culturally transmitted ways of handling typical social situations. They act as "cookbooks" for daily life, providing practical instructions on how to achieve goals without needing deep analytical thought.^[2:3]

Multiple Realities (Finite Provinces of Meaning)

While the lifeworld of everyday working life is the "paramount reality," Schütz argued that human consciousness operates across multiple "finite provinces of meaning."^[7] Each province possesses a distinct cognitive style, a specific tension of consciousness, and its own rules of what constitutes "factuality." Examples include:

• The world of dreams.

• The world of religious or spiritual experience.

• The world of art and play.

• The world of scientific/theoretical contemplation.^[7:1]

Transitioning between these realities requires a "shock" or a leap in consciousness, such as the transition from being engrossed in a theater performance (art) back to the reality of navigating traffic on the way home (everyday lifeworld).

Methodological Contributions to Sociology

Schütz believed that the social sciences differ fundamentally from the natural sciences because social objects (human beings) have already interpreted their own world before the scientist arrives. Therefore, social scientists are engaged in making sense of how ordinary people make sense of their world—creating "constructs of the second degree."^[6:1]

To ensure that sociological research remains objective and scientifically valid while studying subjective phenomena, Schütz introduced three critical methodological postulates:^[6:2]

1. The Postulate of Logical Consistency: The scientific models and "ideal types" constructed by the sociologist must be strictly logical and objectively valid, distinguishing them from the often contradictory assumptions of everyday life.

2. The Postulate of Subjective Interpretation: Scientific models must ultimately be traceable back to the subjective meaning that an action had for the individual actor.

3. The Postulate of Adequacy: The scientific "ideal type" (the second-order construct) must be understandable and recognizable to the everyday actor (the first-order construct). If a sociologist's explanation of human behavior would seem absurd to the people actually performing the behavior, the model fails the postulate of adequacy.

Legacy and Impact

Alfred Schütz's phenomenological approach had a profound impact on the trajectory of 20th-century sociology. His theories laid the direct groundwork for Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann's highly influential book The Social Construction of Reality.^[1:3] Furthermore, his focus on the granular details of everyday interaction and common-sense knowledge heavily influenced Harold Garfinkel’s development of ethnomethodology and provided theoretical momentum for modern social constructionism and symbolic interactionism.^[2:4]

References

Backlinks

• The Social Construction of Reality - A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge
• Gestalt and Buddhism-Reality Construction