Tom Kando
I was reading a review of the movie Oppenheimer - about the UC Berkeley theoretical physicist who invented the atom bomb.
So I started to think about the word “theory,” and how much I love theory, something on which I spent a good part of my life.
What IS theory?
I am a sociologist, and much of my discussion of “theory” is about SOCIAL theory, although not just that.
When I was getting my PhD at the University of Minnesota, all candidates were trained and tested in four basic subareas: (1) Social Organization, (2) Social Psychology, (3) Statistics and Methodology, and (4) Theory. Today, the subareas within Sociology are quite different, much more politicized (Gender Studies, Social Inequality, etc.). Be that as it may, it is significant that “Theory” -pure and simple - was one of the chief areas of graduate sociology.
One way to answer a “what is?” question is to first ask what it is NOT. You then come up with something, and you posit
that this thing is the opposite of what you are trying to define.
So what is the opposite of “theory?”
Is it empirical facts?
Is it practice, or action?
Is it practicality or Pragmatism?
Is it reality? (As opposed to “fantasy”)?
Is it applied or applicable knowledge?
Is it the “concrete” (as opposed to the “abstract”)?
Is it “useful,” as opposed to “useless”?
Most people don’t have much respect for “theory.”
They equate it (use the word synonymously) with “bullshit., ” which in turn is a synonym of “nonsense.”
People say, “them’s are just words. What matters is action, not just talk.”
Or:
That’s just book knowledge, useless knowledge, the domain of pointy-headed academic eggheads and intellectuals, who know little about real life.
In the age-old mutual town-gown hostility, such attitudes are widespread among the “town” people. Even among my college students, there was a frequent hostility towards theory, something often viewed as useless, as bullshit. Most painfully to me, many students found theory BORING. Furthermore, this is part of a populist attitude which has always been extremely widespread in America. This reflects the fact that, despite much inequality in Americans’ life conditions, our dominant ideology has always been extremely egalitarian. It also includes the charge of elitism leveled at academia, a charge that is not without merit.
But I stray. Today, I speak out in defense of theory. To me, the sociological subfield of Theory was fascinating. It included the classics - Weber, Marx, Durkheim, Mead, Parsons, Merton, etc.
Whether in Sociology or in other fields, you cannot have creativity, new ideas and progress without theory. So, it is wrong to reject theory.
However, there is good theory and there is bad theory. What is the difference?
The criteria for evaluating theories differ. For scientific theories, the most obvious criterion is whether or not a theory is contrary to facts.
However, truth is often elusive. There is also a school of thought (Pragmatism, William James) which says that the value of a theory may be judged by its CONSEQUENCES. As Voltaire is said to have said, “If God did not exist, we must invent him.” So things get complicated.
Furthermore, is a theory used as a basis for action? If a theory is a product of fantasy, it is not bound by any empirical requirement - witness science fiction and much of art and popular culture.
We are told that today, more Americans are becoming indifferent to whether their beliefs are supported by facts or not.
Many continue to believe the theory that Trump won the 2020 election. Others become neo-Pagan believers in witchcraft such as Wicca. Conspiracy theories abound. Facts don’t matter.
But of course, this is not new. Throughout history, there has been far more superstition and belief in nonsense than in true knowledge.
However, most of the greatest minds in history have been theoreticians - from Plato and Socrates to Einstein and Oppenheimer.
There are many schools of thought regarding theories - and the bases upon which they should be evaluated. Logical Positivism is one - theories must be testable and not contradict empirical facts. But the bottom line is that theories are IDEAS. Knowledge is the product of a two-way process: Deduction and Induction, thought and observation. Without the former, human knowledge would not exist.
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