Sociological Thinking and Sociological Imagination According to Charles Wright Mills

The article presents an analysis of the conception of sociological imagination by the outstanding American sociologist Charles Wright Mills. In the article, the necessity of sociological imagination in sociology is shown, as well as the positive and negative aspects of this conception. The authors of the article offer critical inteprtetations of such issues as: the necessity of an original methodology in sociology; the necessity of a new regulation of sociological thinking; dynamic of sociological meaning; the essence of sociological imagination; science seen from the viewpoint of sociological imagination; consideration of the ambivalent functioning of science; man accroding to sociological imagination; reason and freedom as the main principles of sociological imagination; types of sociological imagination and Srive Fuller’s new conception of sociological imagination the products of which are such “progressive” sciences as sociobiology, evolutionary psychology and behavioural genetics. Such a type of sociological imagination draws the attention of sociologists to the possible unexpected results of scientific innovations, which would be impossible to control in future. The new conception of sociological imagination relies on biological reductionism and doubts the control of the reality created by means of nanotechnologies. This new conception may prove successful in research concerned with the health risks, anti-ageing discourses and an innovative understanding of the human body and gender discourses.

     The authors of the article think that the study of the body and bodily techniques is a result of the present times. Therefore, such problems as the boundaries of corporeality, body and nature, bodies dancing in cyberspace, trans-sex and transgender bodies, corporeal factor in the social webs and many others may demand research based on a new sociological imagination. Therefore, offering the newest paradoxical synthesis of social action and questionable results of scientific innovations, stressing ambivalency can be accepted as a powerful aspect of this conception, though its radical character and ignorance of the spiritual-rational aspect in man’s everyday life will remain unacceptable.

     One more postmodern variant of sociological imagination is the conception of cyber-human, the existence of which is unimaginable without the newest technologies and “intellectual machines” – computers and artificial intelligence. These machines, paired with artificial intelligence, already make a serious impact on the functioning of contemporary actors and offer them new power possibilities. Everything mentioned places sociology face-to-face with new perspectives and challenges.

     We think that the necessity of a new conception of sociological imagination is, naturally, imminent in the epoch of complicated social-cultural dynamics and artificial intelligence, though, in our opinion, the suggested conceptions lack humanism and spirituality, and it should be considered a serious fault.