| The Common Mind: An Essay on Psychology, Society, and Politics Contributor(s): Pettit, Philip (Author) |
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ISBN: 0195106458 ISBN-13: 9780195106459 Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA OUR PRICE: $113.85 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 1996 Annotation: What makes human beings intentional and thinking subjects? How does their intentionality and thought connect with their social nature and their communal experience? How do the answers to these questions shape legitimate assumptions in social explanation and political evaluation? In this innovative study, Philip Pettit addresses these broad-ranging issues and defends a connected set of responses. The book argues for an original way of distinguishing thinking subjects, in particular human beings, from other intentional systems, natural and artificial. It defends the holistic view that human thought requires communal resources while denying that this social connection compromises the autonomy of individuals. And, in developing the significance of this view of social subjects - this holistic individualism - it outlines a novel framework for social and political theory. Within this framework, social theory is allowed to follow a number of paths: Space is found for intentional interpretation and decision-theoretic reconstruction as well as for structural explanation and rational choice derivation. But political theory is treated less ecumenically. The framework raises serious questions about contractarian and atomistic modes of thought and it points the way to a republican rethinking of liberal commitments. Designed to be accessible to readers in a number of disciplines and on the student as well as professional level, The Common Mind will interest philosophers as well as political scientists, economists, sociologists, cognitive scientists, and scholars of law. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Philosophy | Movements - Humanism - Philosophy | Epistemology |
| Dewey: 128 |
| LCCN: 97139739 |
| Physical Information: 1.1" H x 6" W x 8.8" (1.20 lbs) 400 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: What makes human beings intentional and thinking subjects? How does their intentionality and thought connect with their social nature and their communal experience? How do the answers to these questions shape the assumptions which it is legitimate to make in social explanation and political evaluation? These are the broad-ranging issues which Pettit addresses in this novel study. The Common Mind argues for an original way of marking off thinking subjects, in particular human beings, from other intentional systems, natural and artificial. It holds by the holistic view that human thought requires communal resources while denying that this social connection compromises the autonomy of individuals. And, in developing the significance of this view of social subjects--this holistic individualism--it outlines a novel framework for social and political theory. Within this framework, social theory is allowed to follow any of a number of paths: space is found for intentional interpretation and decision-theoretic reconstruction, for structural explanation and rational choice derivation. But political theory is treated less ecumenically. The framework raises serious questions about contractarian and atomistic modes of thought and it points the way to a republican rethinking of liberal commitments. |