THOMAS LUCKMANN: BIOGRAPHY AND THEORIES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Thomas Luckmann (1927-2016) was a notorious German sociologist, philosopher, and professor with Slovenian origins. Within the sociological discipline he stood out in a meritorious way in the branches of the sociology of communication and knowledge, as well as in the sociology specialized in religious and scientific aspects.

Within the branch that involves social thought, Luckmann's significance was solidified thanks to one of his most emblematic works: The Social Construction of Reality, published in 1967.

Image source: KIM Uni Konstanz - Universität Konstanz

He also achieved some success with the text The Structures of the World of Life, published in 1977, which was produced in conjunction with his teacher Alfred Schütz.

In this work, the author raises a theory in which, based on the individual experience of the subject, the stratification of his particular world can be described with daily life as the main focus.

In other words, Luckmann established that the perception of each human being is mediated by their life experience, specifically by their experiences in everyday reality. This reality remains dominated by communication and action.

However, the work and postulates of Thomas Luckmann are not only directed towards a single perspective, as is social phenomenology; This sociologist has also ventured into the fields of proto-sociology, the theory of time and identity, the theory of communication and the reconstruction of meaning in the social sciences.

Likewise, Luckmann's contributions were oriented from constructionism, which was applied by the author in his proposal that implied that the subject must be the center of all theory, conceiving him as an individual who remains in constant bond and interaction with his peers..

Biography

Thomas Luckmann was born on October 14, 1927 in the city of Jesenice, located in Slovenia, which at that time was part of Yugoslavia. His mother was from Slovenia, specifically Ljubljana, while his father was of Austrian blood.

This particularity allowed Luckmann to develop in a bilingual environment and master two languages: Slovenian and German. When the Second World War occurred, Luckmann had to emigrate to Austria together with her family.

Studies and academic work

Luckmann completed his first university studies at the University of Vienna, and later moved to the University of Innsbruck. In both institutions he specialized in the area of ​​sociology.

Later he moved to the United States, where he studied at the New School for Social Research, located in New York.

After developing academically, he decided to teach sociology classes at the University of Konstanz, located in Germany. In this institution she taught since 1994.

Personal life and death

Little information is available about Luckmann's personal life. However, it is known that he married and had a daughter.

In addition, this character was also a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He passed away on May 10, 2016, when he was 88 years old.

Theories

The main argument defended by Luckmann is based on the fact that, for the author, all the knowledge that a person can apprehend -even the most basic within everyday reality- arises thanks to social interactions.

For this theory and two of his works, the sociologist was awarded doctoral fees at the universities of Ljubljana and Linköping.

Social constructionism

The perspective of social constructionism has become one of the most used positions within the field of sociology and psychology, being defined for the first time in the work The social construction of reality, where a notion about social construction is established.

It has four main characteristics:

-The first characteristic is related to the primacy of social processes, which means that the experiences of individuals in the world are considered as social processes.

-The second characteristic is related to cultural and historical specificity, so that all subjects are specific social and cultural products.

-The third characteristic consists of the idea that there is an interdependence between action and knowledge, which means that each way of knowing brings with it different forms of action.

-The fourth characteristic has to do with the critical stance that the constructivist perspective takes against empiricism and positivism, since this branch prefers to advocate essentialism.

Social interactions

Taking into account the previous notions, it can then be established that, for social constructionism, the social world is made up of conversations.

These conversations are conceived as a kind of patterns that make up joint activities, which work in a similar way to games, since rules and parameters are established.

Continuing with the analogy, as in the case of many games, the patterns of these are not initiated by us, but correspond to a series of traditions that were implemented many years in advance.

However, the human being is increasingly involved with these guidelines, since they allow us to build the meanings of our environment.

The subjects, being social beings par excellence, have the total capacity to insert themselves in these patterns or conversations of interaction. In fact, it is a man's own ability.

Like games, these activities are structured by a series of rules that make up the social order.

Luckmann's phenomenology

To understand Luckmann's phenomenological sociology, it is necessary to understand phenomenology as a philosophical movement.

It consists of a 20th century position that is responsible for describing the structures of experiences as they appear in man's consciousness, without the need to resort to theories or assumptions from other disciplines.

Schütz, Luckmann's teacher who taught him all his theories, establishes that phenomenology works as a form of approach to everyday life.

For this reason it is possible to speak of a sociological phenomenology, which maintains its center of interest in the fact of explaining and knowing the intersubjective experiences of individuals within their daily context.

References

1. Dreher, J. (sf) Phenomenology: Alfred Schutz and Thomas Luckmann. Retrieved on December 12, 2018 from UAM courses: sgpwe.izt.uam.mx
2. García, M. (2015) Construction of reality, Communication and daily life - An approach to the work of Thomas Luckmann. Retrieved on December 12, 2018 from Scielo: scielo.br
3. Luckmann, T. (1973) The invisible religion. Retrieved on December 12, 2018 from UAB Pub Pappers: ddd.uab.cat
4. Luckmann, T. (1981) The Heretical Imperative: Contemporary Possibilities of Religious Affirmation. Retrieved on December 12, 2018 from Phil Pappers: philpapers.org
5. Luckmann, T. (2003) The social construction of reality. Retrieved December 12 from WordPress: zoonpolitikonmx.files.wordpress.com
6. Luckmann, T. (sf) The everyday life-world and the Natural Attitude. Retrieved on December 12, 2018 from Google Books: books.google.es