Hermeneutics, ontology of sociology, Hans-Georg Gadamer

In the paper, I formulate a hermeneutic perspective on sociological knowledge-making. I compare the hermeneutic perspective with the basic ontological and epistemological tenets of both modern (scientistic) and postmodern sociology. The core of the hermeneutic position consists in acknowledgement of principal importance questioning plays in the process of sociological knowledge formation. From this principle, I deduce three conclusions, namely that sociology is dependent on the passive receptivity or perceptiveness, that sociological knowledge is inseparable from the phenomenon of discussion, and that sociology is formed by common questioning that is shared despite s the differences in sociological paradigms, theories, and methods. I suggest, this questioning can play the role of the common ground for the discipline after sociological theory seized to play this role in the last decades (mainly as a consequence of the postmodern turn).