Author: Lawrence Daly File Type: pdf

Author: Jürgen Habermas File Type: pdf For two decades the German edition of this book has been a standard reference point for students of the philosophy of the social sciences in Germany. Today it still stands as a unique and masterful guide to the major problems and possibilities in this field.On the Logic of the Social Sciences foreshadowed the direction in which methodological discussions have traveled since it appeared and anticipated the problems they presently face. Habermass statement of the principal issues is concise and elegant, and his own original resolution of them is of continuing relevance. He considers the main lines of thought pursued by epistemologists and methodologists of the social sciences, from neo-Kantianism to behaviorism, and from problems of measurement to those of interpretive logic, in a sustained and provocative argument that involves analysis and critique at every point and ends with his own sharply profiled position.Beginning with the turn of the century debates on the distinction between natural and cultural sciences, Habermas discusses the relationship between sociology and history. He takes up the problem of a general theory of social action, focusing first on the nature of interpretive understanding and then on the scope and limits of functionalist explanation. In the concluding sections, he draws on psychoanalysis and classical social theory to sketch the outlines of his view of sociology as a critical theory of the present. Along the way he provides a great deal of material that is useful in understanding his own work.Jurgen Habermas is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Frankfurt. On the Logic of the Social Sciences is included in the series Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought, edited by Thomas McCarthy.ReviewWritten in 1967 as an exercise in selfclarification, On the Logic of the Social Sciences is unmatched in its scope, insights, and impact. The point of departure for Habermas twenty-year effort to reconstruct critical social theory, it is an indispensable aid to understanding his recent work on the theory of communicative action. The book also stands on its own as one of the best general overviews of the field, and should be required reading for students of the methodology and philosophy of the social sciences. James Schmidt , Boston University.Language NotesText English, German (translation)

Author: Marshall G. S. Hodgson File Type: pdf The Venture of Islam has been honored as a magisterial work of the mind since its publication in early 1975. In this three-volume study, illustrated with charts and maps, Hodgson traces and interprets the historical development of Islamic civilization from before the birth of Muhammad to the middle of the twentieth century. This work grew out of the famous course on Islamic civilization that Hodgson created and taught for many years at the University of Chicago. This is a nonpareil work, not only because of its command of its subject but also because it demonstrates how, ideally, history should be written.*The New Yorker * Volume 1, The Classical Age of Islam, analyzes the world before Islam, Muhammads challenge, and the early Muslim state between 625 and 692. Hodgson then discusses the classical civilization of the High Caliphate. The volume also contains a general introduction to the complete work and a foreword by Reuben Smith, who, as Hodgsons colleague and friend, finished the Venture of Islam after the authors death and saw it through to publication. **

Author: Darko Suvin File Type: pdf