The Emergence of the Social Sciences in the Nordic Countries

Kristian Keto, The Nordic Sociological Association

The eastern parts of Sweden, Finland, was ceded to Russia in 1809. It became a grand duchy, with old Swedish laws and parliamentary system. Norway was forced in Union with Sweden in 1814. Immanuel Kant’s heritage in the Nordic countries was strong, especially in Sweden. G.W.F. Hegel influenced political theories notably in Norway and Finland. The leading Nordic scholars were C.J. Boström (died 1866), M.J. Monrad and J.W. Snellman. Sweden was most industrialized of the Nordic countries which were however all agrarian societies. Higher technical education, and the natural sciences, were given positions only reluctantly. The aftermaths of Franco – Prussian war 1870 – 1871, e.g. fear for new wars, foreshadowed a victory over classical education. As a part of that change national languages dethronized Latin, a pillar of cultural continuum. National awakening gave more power to the Parliaments and social planning increased. In Sweden Boström’s idealistic philosophy was institutionalized, the clerks in the administration had been educated in his views. Snellman put his philosophical theories in practice in Finland. Societal change had a common ground, including the idea of equal value of all people, or equal opportunities. Definition of culturally countable people varied, hence process towards political rights. Quest for universal suffrage inspired social research. Theoretically, there was a shift in interpretation of the German concept Sittlichkeit (Swedish sedlighet, Norwegian sedelighet), which was a common denominator in the Nordic state philosophies. Meaning not just morality, but as according to J.W. Snellman and M.J. Monrad, a relation between rationality and motive. How did Philosophical Idealism coincide with scientific approach to the society in the Nordic countries, e.g. with inductive science and nonteleological philosophy? Some central arguments with and against the mainstream in the Nordic politics around 1870’s, the idea of participation, with changing views of science concerning culture and society.

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 Presented in Session 260. Constructing National Knowledges