Analysis of the phenomenon of “scientific literature”: variability of statements and the problem of the meaning of social action

Abstract

The article provides a methodological study of the program of discourse analysis of the statements of scientists G. Gilbert and M. Mulkay. In discourse analysis, any action performed by a scientist is understood as a social action. The essence of the scientific problem lies in the impossibility of direct observation of social action, which is a fan of potential possibilities. The interpretation of social action is variable and depends on the nature of the statements of scientists. The variability of social action is directly related to the variability of the statements of scientists, which makes it possible to identify two repertoires – empiricist and conditional, understanding them as socially given guidelines. Repetitive interpretive repertoires highlight the phenomenon of “formal scientific literature” and “informal conversation”. Scientific novelty is presented by the main thesis in solving this problem, which is that linguistic models of empiricist and conditional repertoires sanction the identification of patterns of translation of individual knowledge into supraindividual knowledge of generally recognized content, here the presence of a social norm governing the methods of reflexive presentation of the research is recorded. The conclusion is drawn, according to which it is inappropriate to understand social action as a given act, since reflection offers different pictures of the same externally observable event.