What Is the Purpose of Social Science? Freedom

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The Sociological Imagination" by C. Wright Mills. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.

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What is the purpose of social science? What should it be?

In The Sociological Imagination, professor and sociologist C. Wright Mills argues that the main purpose of social science must be the preservation of freedom. In his definition of freedom, Mills directly connects it to our choices. He also discusses the contemporary trends he says threaten the possibility of a free society.

Keep reading to learn Mills’s perspective on the purpose of social science.

The Purpose of Social Science

What is the purpose of social science? Mills believes that it’s the preservation of freedom, which he defines as the ability to understand, debate over, and decide between choices—particularly in a social and political context. Freedom, explains Mills, is the main mechanism for making social and political decisions. All three components of his definition contribute to decision making:

  1. Freedom allows people to understand problems and the choices they have to address them.
  2. Freedom allows people to debate over choices of how to respond to problems. 
  3. Freedom allows people to decide on a specific response.

(Shortform note: While many other social scientists try to use their work to benefit a free and open society, they often differ in how they try to achieve this purpose. Often, social scientists suggest that their work should inform the policymaking of governments or other major social institutions. However, Mills rejects this approach and instead argues that social science should directly inform members of society—who then can decide for themselves how to improve their society. He believes influencing policymakers isn’t enough to preserve a free society, because their institutions have become fundamentally anti-freedom (an argument he explains in his earlier work, The Power Elite).)

What Is the Purpose of Social Science? Freedom

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  • C. Wright Mills's theory of how social science can preserve freedom
  • What grand theory is and how it's flawed
  • How social science based entirely on empirical evidence harms freedom

Elizabeth Whitworth

Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books—and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.

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