by David Ingram (2010)
"The work of Jurgen Habermas (b. 1929) has been highly influential both in philosophy and across many disciplines in the social sciences. David Ingram here provides an accessible introduction to Habermas's complex thought as it has evolved from 1953 to the present, spanning philosophy, religion, political science, social science, and law. One of today's most intriguing thinkers, Habermas is also notably prolific; for students and other readers who wish to navigate the philosopher's more than thirty books, the lucid and precise Habermas: Introduction And Analysis is a Welcome Starting point rich in insights" "Ingram's book addresses the entire range of Habermas's social theory, including his most recent and widely discussed contributions to religion, freedom and determinism, global democracy, and the consolidation of the European Union. Recognizing Habermas's Position as a highly public intellectual, Ingram discusses how Habermas applies his own theory to pressing problems such as abortion, terrorism, genetic engineering, immigration, multiculturalism, separation of religion and state, technology and mass media, feminism, and human rights. He also presents a detailed critical analysis of Habermas's Key claims and arguments"--Jacket.
Martin Albrow
This study argues that a history of the present needs an explicit epochal theory to understand the transition to the global age. When globality displaces modernity there is a general decentring of state, government, economy, culture and community.
Raimo Tuomela
This book develops a systematic philosophical theory of social action and group phenomena, in the process presenting detailed analyses of such central social notions as "we-attitude" (especially "we-intention" and mutual belief, social norm, joint action, and - most important - group goal, group belief, and group action). Humans are social beings whose accounts of their social life inherently rely on social group notions involving the core concept of "we." The crucial notions for understanding macro-level group notions are shown to be joint action, we-attitude (especially we-intention and mutual belief), social norm, and group-commitment-creating "authority system" (roughly, a system for the formation of joint intentions). Though this is a philosophical work, it presents a unified conceptual framework that may be useful to social scientists, especially social psychologists, as well as philosophers.
Stephen P. Turner and Paul A. Roth
"The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of the Social Sciences collects newly commissioned essays that examine fundamental issues in the social sciences. The philosophy of the social sciences is concerned with a wide range of problems that pertain to explanations of human action and thought. This volume is the first of its kind to survey the full range of issues that philosophy of social science now encompasses. These include postmodernism, science studies, feminist philosophy, evolutionary accounts of social life, rational choice theory, practice theory, and causal modeling. The book also provides a retrospective look at the origins of the problem of the scientific character of social science and the changes that the field has undergone. Written by an international cast of leading philosophers, each essay offers an examination of the hottest issues in this field. It is a must-read for philosophers of social science and philosophically inclined social scientists. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.
Ali Hassan Zaidi
"This book discloses a largely unnoticed dialogue between Muslim and Western social thought on the search for meaning and transcendence in the human sciences. The disclosure is accomplished by a comparative reading of contemporary Muslim debates on secular knowledge on the one hand, and of a foundational Western debate on the demise of metaphysics in the human sciences on the other hand. The comparative reading is grounded in a dialogical hermeneutic approach; that is, a hermeneutic approach to texts and cultural traditions that draws upon the work of Hans Georg Gadamer and also upon the insights of inter-religious dialogue"-- "This book serves as a "translation service" between Muslim and Western social thought on the search for meaning and transcendence in the human sciences. The translation is accomplished by a comparative reading of contemporary Muslim debates on secular knowledge on the one hand and of a foundational Western debate on the demise of metaphysics in the human sciences on the other hand. The book challenges contemporary Muslim critics who regard the modern human sciences as leading inevitably toward nihilism, and Western critics who regard religious thought as inimical to the human sciences. It also expands the realm of social theory beyond the Western canon, and contributes to the new and growing field of comparative social theory"--