Las Bases De Una Teoria

Taken by itself, the failed coup in august 1991 was no more than mine men imprisoning a president and issuing orders; but as an instance of more encompassing processes, it was one of most dynamicmoments of recent history.

The refinements of theory
It follows that at least crude forms of theorizing are at work whenever we undertake observation. The facts of history or current events do notspeak to us. They do not cry out for attention and impose themselves upon us. Rather, it is we who make the facts speak, accord them salience, give them meaning, and in so doing endlessly engage in thetheoretical enterprise. Since this is the case irrespective of whether we are aware of ourselves as theoreticians, it is obviously preferable to move consciously up and down the ladder of abstraction.Indeed, since theorizing is the surest and most expeditious route to understanding, there is much to be said for making a habit out of the of-what-this-an-instance question, of training oneself toask it constantly in order to insure that one proceeds explicitly from observation to inference to explanation. By being habitual about the question, that is, one assures always seeing larger meaningeven as one focuses on particular events. And by being explicit, one can identify where one may have erred if it turns out that an interpretation proves unwarranted in the light of subsequentdevelopments.
Explicitness, in other words, is a crucial refinement of the theoretical enterprise. It is what allows us to test and revise our theories. By being explicit we can not only check our reasoningagainst further observations but also submit our theories to the scrutiny of those who doubt the soundness of our theorizing. In this way knowledge cumulates and both specific events and broad trendscome into focus and pave the way for ever more enriched understanding. Thus is task that may seem like sheer craziness transformed by the theorist into a challenging and rewarding endeavor.
There...