The notion of “Life-World” in Alfred Schutz’s project of phenomenological foundation of the social sciences

Abstract

The question of conceptual priority of the life- world in relation to any abstract scientific speculation is a recurrent topic in Alfred Schutz´s early writings. There, the reflection on the life- world is constituted as the basis and the foundation for the posterior formation of concepts in social sciences. In particular, we will try to regain something that we could name “an epistemic claim” of a sociology of the lifeworld. This claim is part of Schutz’s project of phenomenological foundation of social sciences, which origins can be found in discussions among the members of Austrian School of Economics. The reconstruction of this debate has enabled us to think the link between the lifeworld and the scientific reason, in order to avoid the substitution of social reality by idealizations and abstractions created by the science.