The direction of scientific knowledge: the concepts of involvement and detachment in Norbert Elias

Abstract

The concern to elaborate a sociology of knowledge was one of the main activities that interested Norbert Elias. For the author, our society has accumulated such a large knowledge fund that, in turn, enabled the emergence of sciences that can study individuals and societies. However, the sociologist explain that these sciences have not yet reached the same level of maturity as the exact and biological sciences. There are several explanations, several are the reasons, but for Elias, one of the main understandings concerns the relationship between knowledge and control of emotions that can directly influence the same production. Of this, the author creates the conceptual pair involvement/distancing to understand the process of knowledge formation in our societies. This article will analyze the concepts of involvement and distancing in Norbert Elias. We will start from a reading and research in their more epistemological work, as well as reading the authors who study Elijah, to understand how the author reflects on the issue.