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What is social theory? This paper opens with a conception of social theory as an ontological approach explicating the nature of the worldview that we should adopt provided that the results of the most advanced empirical social science are true. After loosening the limitations of such a realist conception by introducing normative standards and dialogue with other provinces of meaning than science, it raises another question: How can we choose between various alternative conceptions in social theory? It seems that although the element of voluntaristic choice cannot be completely avoided, there are still many ways to limit the number of conceptions that can be taken seriously. In the final part of the paper, the ontologically oriented approach is put into dialogue with an understanding of social theory as a form of practical reason in the service of our ideas about a better society, and a synthetic view is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]