Imputing Beliefs: a Controversy in the Sociology of Knowledge1

The problem of imputation - how to ascribe ideas and beliefs to groups, or to individuals on the basis of their group membership - has occasionally occupied the attention of those working in the sociology of knowledge. This article offers a critical discussion of this debate. It is argued that the various proposed solutions - idealist, empiricist, and structuralist - do not adequately tackle the problem since each assumes a deterministic model of sociological explanation, and adheres to a dualism of actor versus structure. We suggest that a theory of group formation informed by a social action perspective may offer some pointers towards taking such issues beyond self-sustaining debate between sociological idealism and objectivism.