ВОПРОСЫ ТЕОРИИ И МЕТОДОЛОГИИ HEURISTIC RESOURCES OF THE ‘CLASSICS’: PERSPECTIVES OF SOCIOLOGICAL ENLIGHTENMENT D.G. Podvoyskiy Sociology Chair Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia Miklukho-Maklaya str., 10/2, Moscow, Russia, 117198 The article discusses the methodological question traditional for the humanities and social sciences (and, above all, sociology), namely, the question about their world view status, functions and aims. <...> The most important component of this ‘enlightenment’ is the demonstration of ‘heuristic resources’ of classical and modern theoretical sociology as a means of scientific explanation and conceptualization of social problems at a level comprehensible to non-academic audiences. <...> Key words: sociological enlightenment, sociological imagination, world view functions of social sciences, heuristic resources of ‘classical’ sociology, Max Weber. <...> Recently, the professional discussion on the place and role of sociology and sociologists in the Russian society has become considerably more intense. <...> Russian sociologists, like other professionals, are trying to win public recognition, but their success is still far from being impressive (in this respect they obviously concede, let us say, to economists and psychologists). <...> The profession of sociologist is becoming more widespread, while the potential demand for sociologists’ work remains rather low. <...> The science about society in Russia is seeking to obtain a greater ‘social weight’ [7; 9]. 5 Вестник РУДН, серия Социология, 2013, № 4 Representatives of the historical-theoretical branch of sociology have even more grounds for pessimism, as there is no demand for theoretical sociological studies in Russia today. <...> Such a strategy dooms any specific branch of science in any given society (of Russian type) to oblivion and decline. ‘Sociological enlightenment’ provides a chance to justify the purport of scientific research on the theory and history of sociology (research that is culturally significant beyond the narrow professional frames of sociology). <...> The most important component of this ‘enlightenment’ is the demonstration of ‘heuristic resources’ of classical and modern theoretical sociology as a means of scientific explanation and conceptualization of social problems at a level comprehensible to non-academic audiences. <...> His representatives can produce and propagate ‘sociological imagination’ as a specific cognitive perspective, but again in a broader sense than suggested by Charles Wright Mills [4]. <...> The words ‘enlightenment, ‘enlightener’, ‘enlightening’ in Russian are often used in officiously bureaucratic speech <...>