What is Theory? : Bloomsbury Continuum : 9780826490506 : 0826490506 : 26 Feb 2007 : The term 'theory' is nowadays most commonly defined in relation to the concept of 'scientific knowledge'. Yet the etymological background of the term ('to observe') reminds us that theory is in fact a way of viewing objects and of relating them to one another within a particular kind of discourse. The word 'discourse' implies that we are dealing with linguistic structures and that, in the realm of cultural and social sciences, theory can therefore only be understood as a linguistic construct. In What is Theory?, Peter V. Zima argues that this concept of theory has never been adequately analysed. He asserts that social scientists have been dealing with concepts such as 'culture', 'ideology', 'language' and 'discourse' without ever attempting to define the concept of theory itself. This new study re-examines the most important theoretical debates of the twentieth-century and, in engaging with the critical