Social reality in the perspective of practical turn

The article presents different forms of practical turn in social theory by identifying their initial motives, methods of argumentation, and the implications for social science. It is shown that a significant contribution to the formation of a practical perspective of social reality analysis was made by the works of A. Gehlen, H. Arendt, M. Foucault, P. Bourdieu, A. Giddens, P. Sztompka, M. Archer. The criticism of practical turn is specially researched. The author asks the question whether different forms of practical turn in social theory have a convergent effect, allowing to say that the accumulated theoretical generalizations have results which are impossible to get by classical social theory. The answer is that the practical perspective of social reality analysis suggests the refusal to interpret social practice as a secondary effect, the origins of which lie in other areas (conscious or unconscious, subjective actions or social structures). The practical turn is characterized by the expansion and redefinition of conceptual dictionary of social science, that's saying about the renewal of the categorical framework of social theory and indicate not only about a search for the relevant language of social reality description, but also the creation of new ontology of the social. Another aspect of the practical perspective is the recognition of the materiality of social reality, which appears in the corporeal nature of social actions and structures, allowing to observe them, and in the involvement of subjects of the physical world in social practices.

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