Reason And Freedom In Sociological Thought Rle Social Theory

Author : Frank Hearn
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 346 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2020-08-26
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000155839

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Reason and Freedom in Sociological Thought (RLE Social Theory) by Frank Hearn Pdf

How has reason, believed since the Enlightenment to be the ally of freedom in the search for a better, more humanly satisfying world, been reduced to a technical rationality that has actually impoverished the bases of human freedom? What might be the options and obligations for sociologists who wish to restore reason to its proper status? Working within the tradition of C. Wright Mills and Jurgen Habermas, Frank Hearn sets out to answer these questions. He surveys the treatment of the relation between reason and freedom in both the classical tradition (especially the writings of Saint-Simon, Comte, Durkheim, Marx, Weber, and Freud) and an increasingly significant segment of social thought and criticism (and, for example, in the contrasting visions of Daniel Bell and Christopher Lasch.) He then analyses both the concrete social and historical forms of expression taken by what Mills calls 'rationality without reason' and their impact on individual autonomy and the freedoms associated with democratic politics. Finally, he develops Mills's and Habermas's claims that the cultivation of democratic publics and a critical social theory committed to a vibrant public life are indispensable to the protection and revitalization of the values of reason and freedom and of the practices they entail. This book updates and enriches Mills's influential argument by demonstrating its affinity with critical theory, by showing its contributions to a critical understanding of the classical tradition, and by showing its implications for contemporary social, political, and economic developments.

Author : Frank Hearn
Publisher : Unwin Hyman
Page : 220 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 1985-01-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0043011950

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Reason and Freedom in Sociological Thought by Frank Hearn Pdf

Author : Barry Hindess
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 142 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317652144

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Choice, Rationality and Social Theory (RLE Social Theory) by Barry Hindess Pdf

Choice, Rationality and Social Theory is a powerful rebuttal of the remarkably influential theories underlying 'rational choice analysis'. Rational choice analysis maintains that social life is principally to be explained as the outcome of rational choices on the part of individual actors. Adherents of this view include not only philosophers, political scientists and sociologists, but also prominent politicians in Western governments – notably of the United Kingdom and the United States. Rational choice analysis is said to be rigorous, capable of great technical sophistication, and able to generate powerful explanations on the basis of a few, relatively simple theoretical assumptions. Barry Hindess argues that the theory is seriously deficient, first, because there are important actors in the modern world other than human individuals, and second, because it says nothing about those processes of deliberation that play an important part in actors' decisions. The use of highly questionable assumptions about actors and their rationality has the effect of closing off important areas of intellectual inquiry and ignoring the reality of certain forms of thought and the social conditions on which they depend. These points are established through detailed examination of the concepts of the actor and of rationality – providing an overall argument that constitutes a serious challenge to any adherent of rational choice analysis.

Author : Frederick NEUHOUSER,Frederick Neuhouser
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 351 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2009-06-30
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780674041455

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Foundations of Hegel's Social Theory by Frederick NEUHOUSER,Frederick Neuhouser Pdf

This study examines the philosophical foundations of Hegel's social theory by articulating the normative standards at work in his claim that the central social institutions of the modern era are rational or good.

Author : S.I. Benn,G.W. Mortimore
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 422 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317651277

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Rationality and the Social Sciences (RLE Social Theory) by S.I. Benn,G.W. Mortimore Pdf

The concepts of rationality that are used by social scientists in the formation of hypotheses, models and explanations are explored in this collection of original papers by a number of distinguished philosophers and social scientists. The aim of the book is to display the variety of the concepts used, to show the different roles they play in theories of very different kinds over a wide range of disciplines, including economics, sociology, psychology, political science and anthropology, and to assess the explanatory and predictive power that a theory can draw from such concepts.

Author : Gunter Werner Remmling
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 472 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2022-03-23
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781000155792

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Towards the Sociology of Knowledge (RLE Social Theory) by Gunter Werner Remmling Pdf

The sociology of knowledge is an area of social scientific investigation with major emphasis on the relations between social life and intellectual activity. It is now an area central to most graduate and undergraduate courses in sociology. The present collection of readings explains the origins, systematic development, present state and possible future direction of the discipline. The major statements in the field were developed early in the twentieth century by Durkheim, Scheler and Mannheim, but the sociology of knowledge continues to engage the theoretical and empirical interests of contemporary sociologists who desire to penetrate the surface level of social existence. This book, with its carefully selected contributions and an introduction which relates the selections to the developmental pattern of the discipline, provides guidance and insight for the reader concerned with the topical issues raised by sociologists of knowledge.

Author : H. Rickman
Publisher : Praeger
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 1983-11-22
Category : Social Science
ISBN : UCAL:B4382308

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The Adventure of Reason by H. Rickman Pdf

This book is an introduction to the philosophical ideas of Plato, Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, and Immanuel Kant on the role of reason which have contributed to the evolution of sociological thought. Reason, according to Rickman, has a relevance to sociology that has not been explored. Because he is interested in the philosophical reflections which proved influential for understanding the social world, he deals systematically with the four philosophers' central arguments and one or more of their most important and easily available texts. The book's bibliography lists books quoted and referred to in the text and offers suggestions for further reading in the philosophy of the social sciences.

Author : Hermann Strasser
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2014-08-13
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317652328

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The Normative Structure of Sociology (RLE Social Theory) by Hermann Strasser Pdf

In this provocative analysis of the central issues and developments in modern social theory, Dr Strasser contends that enquiry into the function, tasks and mission of sociology as a discipline can be understood only in relation to the subject's historical development. He believes that a discussion of the origin and intention of sociology, particularly in relation to the established social order, enables us to grasp fully the nature of sociological theory, both past and present. He maintains that a sociologist's own position in society, and consequently his views on its development and his way of expressing those views, will affect the theoretical position he takes up.

Author : Peter Lind
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2020-07-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9781000155853

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Marcuse and Freedom (RLE Social Theory) by Peter Lind Pdf

This comprehensive study of Marcuse’s thought concentrates on his theory of freedom, arguing that it is this which supplies the key to all his writings. This argument is substantiated by a detailed chronological examination of Marcuse’s works. The author shows the rigorous logic underlying Marcuse’s thinking, which is often obscured in Marcuse’s own presentation, and pays particular attention to the influence of Heidegger, and of Marx’s notion of human labour. This sympathetic reconstruction of the subject attempts to rescue Marcuse from misunderstanding and superficial criticism, and argues that Marcuse’s most famous work, One Dimensional Man, is in fact an aberration from the mainstream of his work. This book forms one of the most accessible and reliable treatments of Marcuse available.

Author : Michał Roch Kaczmarczyk
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 448 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2023-03-06
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9789004540071

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The Aporia of Freedom by Michał Roch Kaczmarczyk Pdf

The book tackles the fundamental issue underlying all social theory by critically scrutinizing philosophical approaches prevalent in Western thought. After all, the problem of freedom founds the two key elements grounding any overarching reflection on social matters: causality and agency.

Author : Thomas M. Powers,Paul Kamolnick
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Culture
ISBN : UOM:39015053169960

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From Kant to Weber by Thomas M. Powers,Paul Kamolnick Pdf

The chief goal of this volume is to provide students and scholars with a richer understanding of classical German social theory. The contributors bring their training in and knowledge of several different fields to bear on this question: what philosophical notions of culture and freedom animated the founders of social theory? The essays in response to this question provide a multidisciplinary, accessible text geared toward advanced undergraduate or graduate students in the fields of social theory, philosophy and intellectual theory.

Author : Cary Boucock
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2000-12-15
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781487586812

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In the Grip of Freedom by Cary Boucock Pdf

Faith in the utility and value of legal rights forms the political common sense of our age. With its profound breadth and insight into the modern condition, Max Weber's social and political thought is widely considered to be the most influential of the era. Legal phenomena play a centre-stage role in his account of the development of the West and the rationalism of modern social arrangements. Cary Boucock's "In the Grip of Freedom" examines the relationship between Max Weber's "Sociology of Law" and his interpretation of the structure and meaning of modern society. Weber's social and political thought is investigated in the context of developments in Canada which have followed the 1982 enactment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms-namely, the movement toward a rights-oriented nation where broad social issues are routed through the courts, and the political self-understanding of the citizen becomes increasingly tied to a conception of the individual as a rights-bearing subject. Professor Boucock's text runs against the grain of conventional assessments of Weber's legal theory and its applicability to understanding contemporary legal developments. He explores the significance of Weber's sociology of law theories within the larger compass of his sociological thought and illustrates the significance of Weber's sociology for interpreting the social dimensions of present-day legal developments in Canada. Weber's work is a vehicle for understanding the social and legal practices of our own time, and thus, goes far beyond a simple interpretation of the great German thinker.

Author : Zygmunt Bauman
Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
Page : 118 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 1988
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0816617570

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Freedom by Zygmunt Bauman Pdf

Bauman (sociology, U. of Leeds) analyzes freedom as a social relation rather than as an idea or postulate. Throughout history, he shows, freedom was a privilege enjoyed in relation to either superior or weaker power. Today, "seduction" tends to replace repression as a means of social control, and individual freedom is, above all, freedom of the consumer. A paper edition is available ($10.95; 1757-0). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author : Richard Badham
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 190 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2014-08-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317650515

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Theories of Industrial Society (RLE Social Theory) by Richard Badham Pdf

The concept of industrial society plays a dominant role in the social sciences. The ‘Great Divide’ between pre-industrial and industrial societies is commonly assumed to be the main bridge separating modern societies from the past, and distinguishing ‘developed’ from ‘undeveloped’ states in the present era. In history, economics, politics and sociology the concept of industrial society underlies a wide variety of discussions, particularly those relating to economic development and social progress. Outside academic writing, too, the concept exerts a great deal of influence. In the developing world, there is a widespread concern to ‘industrialise’, whilst in the developed world there is growing uneasiness as to whether ‘industrialisation’ is beneficial or not, but still the concept is central. This book examines critically the concept of industrial society, its pervasiveness and influence. It reviews all the major theories of industrial society and the research into the changing character of post-industrial societies. It argues that the decision to use the concept severely restricts the social imagination, and that the concept becomes increasingly less useful as criticism of the equating of industrialisation with social progress grows.

Author : Stanley I. Benn,G. W. Mortimore
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2015
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 1315763435

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Rationality and the Social Sciences by Stanley I. Benn,G. W. Mortimore Pdf

The concepts of rationality that are used by social scientists in the formation of hypotheses, models and explanations are explored in this collection of original papers by a number of distinguished philosophers and social scientists. The aim of the book is to display the variety of the concepts used, to show the different roles they play in theories of very different kinds over a wide range of disciplines, including economics, sociology, psychology, political science and anthropology, and to assess the explanatory and predictive power that a theory can draw from such concepts.