Virtues and human personhood in the social sciences

Abstract

Although understandings of the human person are foundational to social science theory and research, sociologists reflect less on the characteristics of personhood than we do concepts such as structure and culture.1 Although sociologists rarely engage in ontological debates about personhood, the social sciences nonetheless often contain unstated views of the person that give rise to conflicting accounts of human motivation and the interaction between structure, culture, and agency.