What is theory?

For clarity I am not trying to be confrontational, argumentative, blasé, smug or self righteous. I have just re-read the first six pages of Terry Eagleton’s book, ‘theory is dead’; it is difficult to consider what an author is truly saying when you are only seeing a glimpse of his psyche, but overlooking this fact I will continue. These six pages provoked me, aroused a curiosity - they made me consider theory or more specifically what is theory and where exactly is its place in the modern day world and then whether this has changed over time. The word ‘theory’ is often applied in conjunction with another word, as in driving theory, or the theory of black holes, but there is a real distinction with the application of the word. As a word ‘theory’ may be used in relation to a subject where certainty has not been proven but also one which is about fact. This is not a linguistic article; however, this nullifying of the word maybe a reason as to why there is far more disposable theory out there – it is not actually theory, it is an inappropriate use of the word. People are writing more stuff, which may be accessed by more people but really it is just words, convenience style theory – disposable theory – theory that looks good in a gold embossed font on the front of a book so that people on a train may promote the fact that they are reading a book about theory. It is not theory – it is just ideas; although this distinction appears a little tenuous, for me it is critical.

This then promotes another question - where has the theory gone to? Where are all the theorists? I am not saying that there is no new theory out there but simply that it is now difficult to distinguish the woods from the trees. Social theory relies on society – the modern treadmill where people are both insular and exhibitionist in equal measure and seemingly interested in the trivia and banal is potentially the reason as to why theory is being diluted. Can ‘theory’ about why men wear Chelsea boots actually be a social theory? It seems more like an idea to me, but then I must question within modern day life what could be written about that would quantify as theory? I am not sure – but I am not a theorist. Is modern day theory hemmed in by the fact that for many, life has become more vapid and as such social theory has followed suit? It seems that in making ‘theory’ accessible and contemporary it has become dumbed down; this is not meant to appear as being intellectually snobbish. Often theorists were great social commentators, leaders who taught and enlightened – for the majority of pseudo theorists today this is not the case.