Involvement and Detachment: Volume 8 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781904558422)

"Involvement and Detachment" is much more than a discussion of 'objectivity' in the social sciences. It is Elias' major exposition of his sociological theory of the growth of knowledge and the sciences as an aspect of overall human social development. The essay 'The fishermen in the maelstrom' takes its title from a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, and is used to illustrate how fears have to be overcome in order for 'reality-adequate' knowledge - necessary to tackle the dangers from which the fears arise - to accumulate. Discussions of rising dangers in international relations show how far the theory of civilising process is from being a model of unilinear 'progress'. Two fragments on 'The great evolution' discuss the long-term development of the various levels of scientific knowledge - physical, biological and social. Originally written in English, it includes various passages omitted from the previous edition.

Author: Norbert Elias
ISBN-10: 1904558429
ISBN-13: 9781904558422
Publisher: University College Dublin Press
Language: English
Published: 02/23/2007
Pages: 270
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.36lbs
Size: 9.15h x 6.56w x 1.19d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 05/01/2008 pg. 165