Download or read book Reason and Freedom in Sociological Thought RLE Social Theory written by Frank Hearn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-08-26 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book A Social Theory of Freedom written by Mariam Thalos and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-17 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In A Social Theory of Freedom, Mariam Thalos argues that the theory of human freedom should be a broadly social and political theory, rather than a theory that places itself in opposition to the issue of determinism. Thalos rejects the premise that a theory of freedom is fundamentally a theory of the metaphysics of constraint and, instead, lays out a political conception of freedom that is closely aligned with questions of social identity, self-development in contexts of intimate relationships, and social solidarity. Thalos argues that whether a person is free (in any context) depends upon a certain relationship of fit between that agent’s conception of themselves (both present and future), on the one hand, and the facts of their circumstances, on the other. Since relationships of fit are broadly logical, freedom is a logic—it is the logic of fit between one’s aspirations and one’s circumstances, what Thalos calls the logic of agency. The logic of agency, once fleshed out, becomes a broadly social and political theory that encompasses one’s self-conceptions as well as how these self-conceptions are generated, together with how they fit with the circumstances of one’s life. The theory of freedom proposed in this volume is fundamentally a political one.
Download or read book Reason and Freedom in Sociological Thought written by Frank Hearn and published by Unwin Hyman. This book was released on 1985-01-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Freedom s Right written by Axel Honneth and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-03-11 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The theory of justice is one of the most intensely debated areas of contemporary philosophy. Most theories of justice, however, have only attained their high level of justification at great cost. By focusing on purely normative, abstract principles, they become detached from the sphere that constitutes their “field of application” - namely, social reality. Axel Honneth proposes a different approach. He seeks to derive the currently definitive criteria of social justice directly from the normative claims that have developed within Western liberal democratic societies. These criteria and these claims together make up what he terms “democratic ethical life”: a system of morally legitimate norms that are not only legally anchored, but also institutionally established. Honneth justifies this far-reaching endeavour by demonstrating that all essential spheres of action in Western societies share a single feature, as they all claim to realize a specific aspect of individual freedom. In the spirit of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right and guided by the theory of recognition, Honneth shows how principles of individual freedom are generated which constitute the standard of justice in various concrete social spheres: personal relationships, economic activity in the market, and the political public sphere. Honneth seeks thereby to realize a very ambitious aim: to renew the theory of justice as an analysis of society.
Download or read book The Normative Structure of Sociology RLE Social Theory written by Hermann Strasser and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-13 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Talcott Parsons on Economy and Society RLE Social Theory written by Bryan S. Turner and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-27 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'In this remarkable collection of essays, Holton and Turner demonstrate that Parsonian sociology addresses the most central problems of our time – issues of sickness and health, power and inequality, the nature of capitalism and its possible alternatives. They develop a mature and original perspective on Parsons as the only classical theorist who avoided crippling nostalgia. Holton and Turner not only talk about Parsonian sociology in a profound and insightful way, they do it, and do it well. As sociology moves away from the rigid dichotomies of earlier debate, this book will help point the way.' – Jeffrey Alexander, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology, UCLA
Download or read book Towards the Sociology of Knowledge RLE Social Theory written by Gunter Werner Remmling and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-03-23 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Sociological Imagination written by and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Theories of Industrial Society RLE Social Theory written by Richard Badham and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Scope of Understanding in Sociology RLE Social Theory written by Werner Pelz and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-13 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In their efforts to emulate the methodology which had proved so successful in the natural sciences, the social sciences – including sociology – have not yet faced the question as to what constitutes understanding in their area with sufficient seriousness. This book asks again: what does understanding denote in an area where man tries to understand man, where self-understanding is involved, where new understanding immediately becomes part of that which is to be understood? What can we know and what is the use and limitation of knowledge in sociology? When are we conscious that we know and understand? Werner Pelz argues for a thorough reorientation in our approach to sociological thinking, and suggests that scientistic preconceptions have often precluded possibly fruitful approaches to humane understanding. He investigates the relations between various kinds of knowing, and examines the new possibilities of understanding made available, for example, by psychoanalytical and phenomenological insights, as well as by those of poets, artists, mystics. He shows that in the social and humanistic sciences, creative or constitutive contributions illuminate rather than demonstrate, and that, for this reason, sociology has not yet found an appropriate method for conveying them without serious distortions.
Download or read book Problems of Reflexivity and Dialectics in Sociological Inquiry RLE Social Theory written by Barry Sandywell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-08-21 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a work of social theory and philosophy which seeks to make the constitution of social theory a ‘social’ activity. It is essentially a collaborative text, by five authors, committed to a re-awakening of some of the forgotten dimensions of social theorizing. The collaborative work was originally occasioned by an attempt to analyse the notion of social stratification and its treatment in the sociological tradition. The authors’ main concern here is with the nature of social theorizing, and in particular the ‘difference’ between Self and Other, being and beings, Language and Speech. The papers in the book focus on themes that are fundamental to the sense of inquiry and tradition which they are concerned to display. The themes discussed include speech, Language, Identity, Difference, Critical Tradition, Community, Metaphor, Dialectics, Observing and Reading.
Download or read book The Sociology of Karl Mannheim RLE Social Theory written by Gunter Werner Remmling and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-10 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Karl Mannheim (1893-1947) occupies a prominent position among the leading social scientists of the twentieth century; his ideas and his books are relevant for many issues engaging the concern of sociologists today. Mannheim’s life spanned three cultural traditions – Hungarian, German and British – and in this authoritative study Professor Remmling covers all these phases in his life and work. Mannheim began as an idealistic philosopher, but soon began to make important contributions to the developing area of sociology of knowledge. After his emigration to England in 1933, Mannheim developed a theory of social planning to combat the socio-political consequences of the crisis of liberalism. During the Second World War his attention shifted to the ethical and religious values of Western humanism and the related role of mass education in democratic social planning. Finally, Mannheim forged the rudiments of a political sociology attacking the abuse of politico-military power and the resulting danger of a third world war, while simultaneously calling for counter-attack under the banner of planning for freedom on behalf of militant, fundamental democracy. In tracing these development in Karl Mannheim’s work, Gunter Remmling provides insights into major theoretical and practical issues of the first half of the twentieth century, problems which remain central to the modern experience. A comprehensive bibliography is provided to introduce the sociology of knowledge and related topics, such as ideology, utopia, intellectuals, Weimar culture, and social planning.
Download or read book The Future of the Sociological Classics RLE Social Theory written by Buford Rhea and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-07-26 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this important volume of specially commissioned essays, nine leading sociologists present their answers to the question, 'What use are the sociological classics today?' They report on the latest scholarship, on neglected features of the various masters, on promising applications and unrecognised implications.
Download or read book Affluence and Freedom written by Pierre Charbonnier and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-06-22 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this pathbreaking book, Pierre Charbonnier opens up a new intellectual terrain: an environmental history of political ideas. His aim is not to locate the seeds of ecological thought in the history of political ideas as others have done, but rather to show that all political ideas, whether or not they endorse ecological ideals, are informed by a certain conception of our relationship to the Earth and to our environment. The fundamental political categories of modernity were founded on the idea that we could improve on nature, that we could exert a decisive victory over its excesses and claim unlimited access to earthly resources. In this way, modern thinkers imagined a political society of free individuals, equal and prosperous, alongside the development of industry geared towards progress and liberated from the Earth’s shackles. Yet this pact between democracy and growth has now been called into question by climate change and the environmental crisis. It is therefore our duty today to rethink political emancipation, bearing in mind that this can no longer draw on the prospect of infinite growth promised by industrial capitalism. Ecology must draw on the power harnessed by nineteenth-century socialism to respond to the massive impact of industrialization, but it must also rethink the imperative to offer protection to society by taking account of the solidarity of social groups and their conditions in a world transformed by climate change. This timely and original work of social and political theory will be of interest to a wide readership in politics, sociology, environmental studies and the social sciences and humanities generally.
Download or read book Classical and Contemporary Social Theory written by Tim Delaney and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-03-22 with total page 727 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second edition of Classical and Contemporary Social Theory provides wraparound coverage of the classical social theorists and influential sociological schools of thought in the contemporary period. Explained carefully and clearly throughout, Tim Delaney reviews the key concepts and contributions from brilliant classical social thinkers and recent sociological thought, spanning over 500 years of source material. He weaves together profiles of leading theorists, thorough descriptions of major academic and intellectual perspectives, and discussion of prevailing themes of interest that have concerned theorists and sociologists throughout time and will likely continue to do so in the future. The book emphasizes methods of investigation and application in its overview of the field by challenging readers to think about problems critically and in relation to key sociological theories and to also apply their sociological understanding to real, everyday events. In this new edition, Delaney revisits the classical period and highlights the special contributions of American social theorists and their impact on the diversity of thought leading into the contemporary era. He attends to later schools of thought and weaves in important updates related to critical race theory and globalization. With updated context and further applications, the second edition of Classical and Contemporary Social Theory is a perfect addition to combined courses in social theory.
Download or read book Pragmatism and Social Theory written by Hans Joas and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1993-03-15 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rising concerns among scholars about the intellectual and cultural foundations of democracy have led to a revival of interest in the American philosophical tradition of pragmatism. In this book, Hans Joas shows how pragmatism can link divergent intellectual efforts to understand the social contexts of human knowledge, individual freedom, and democratic culture. Along with pragmatism's impact on American sociology and social research from 1895 to the 1940s, Joas traces its reception by French and German traditions during this century. He explores the influences of pragmatism—often misunderstood—on Emile Durkheim's sociology of knowledge, and on German thought, with particularly enlightening references to its appropriation by Nazism and its rejection by neo-Marxism. He also explores new currents of social theory in the work of Habermas, Castoriadis, Giddens, and Alexander, fashioning a bridge between Continental thought, American philosophy, and contemporary sociology; he shows how the misapprehension and neglect of pragmatism has led to systematic deficiencies in contemporary social theory. From this skillful historical and theoretical analysis, Joas creates a powerful case for the enduring legacy of Peirce, James, Dewey, and Mead for social theorists today.
Download or read book Sociological Reasoning written by Rob Stones and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 1996-07-03 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While sociological modernists were outrageously presumptious in their claims for sociological knowledge, postmodernists have gone to another extreme in claiming that it has no more truth status than fiction. Critical of both positions, Sociological Reasoning develops an original typology of approaches to social scientific theory and research which is distinguished by its openness and reflexive awareness of rhetorical and methodological aspects of knowledge claims. Laced with graphic illustrative examples, this is a strikingly well-written text that will appeal to students at undergraduate level and beyond.
