Sociology, once a vibrant and influential discipline, is now facing a crisis of identity and purpose. The article explores the reasons behind this decline, arguing that it is not a mere mid-life crisis but an epistemic failure. The author delves into the historical trajectory of sociology, highlighting its evolution from a conservative science to a critical one, challenging the capitalist system and the political establishment. This shift is marked by the emergence of critical thinkers like Charles Wright Mills and Alvin W. Gouldner, who denounced the Weberian myth of objectivity and advocated for a more subjectivized research approach. However, the 1980s saw a backlash against sociology, reducing it to an 'ideological appendage' and stripping it of its standing. Today, the situation is eerily similar, with sociology being removed from compulsory subjects in state universities, echoing the discipline's past struggles. The author argues that this decline is not just a political backlash but also a quantitative retreat, as sociology has narrowed into statistical measurement, ceding the territory of interpretation to philosophy. The article further explores the convergence of sociology and philosophy, noting that they now use the same language, address similar themes, and arrive at the same critical diagnoses of society. This assimilation has been led by philosophers, who have seized the opportunity to use sociological tools to formulate critical thought rooted in current affairs and public opinion. The author reflects on the historical roots of sociology, its birth being bound up with positivism and modernity. They argue that sociology's close dependence on modern thought compels it to share modernity's fate, and in times of crisis for modernity, a crisis in sociology arises alongside it. The article concludes by speculating that the end of modernity will coincide with the end of sociology or its transformation into a meta-science. The author emphasizes the need for a renewed and revitalized sociology, capable of re-emerging in new forms and addressing the challenges of our time.
