Introduction

I begin the introduction by pointing out a persistent blind spot within post-secular literature and discussions, the presupposition of classical social science as both secularizing and secularist. I propose to challenge this presupposition by making the question of classical sociology’s secularity my research focus, by problematizing the sociological moderns’ engagement with the category of belief. In order to attain an answer to this complex question, I put forward an alternative framework, one which is rooted in the insight that both modern religion and social science are embedded in languages of belief, making the investigation of such languages key for our understanding of the relation between the two domains. The rest of the introduction is then dedicated to further elucidating the conceptual tools I will be using—such as an intellectual history of languages rather than ideas—as well as positioning my own intervention within the broader historiographical and sociological debates.