Sociology as the study of morality
pp. 435-456
in: Seth Abrutyn (ed), Handbook of contemporary sociological theory, Berlin, Springer, 2016Abstract
This article reviews the substantive empirical and theoretical research programs and disputes within the sociology of morality. Specifically, research is reviewed in the areas of moral emotions, reputations and identities, at the social psychological level, and in the areas of political economy, religion and values at the cultural level. In addition, three areas of theoretical controversy are discussed—contentions over the primacy of culture over structure, over the primacy of subliminal versus reflective displays of moral behavior and over the ontological, metatheoretical nature of morality itself. The article ends with a proposed general, interdisciplinary, and integrative theoretical framework for the study of morality in sociology.