Reason and Culture: The Historic Role of Rationality and Rationalism - Couverture souple

Gellner, Ernest

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0631137114 ISBN 13 : 9780631137115

Editeur : Blackwell Publishers, 1992

Synopsis

The disparity between the history of the idea of rationality - from Hobbes to Rawls - and what constitutes and has constituted "reasonable" behaviour form the subject of this book. The institutions of state - government, the law, the military - are based, in the West, on the principle that human beings, if not always reasonable, are at any rate capable of being rational: those who serve the state usually believe that their actions and decisions are also informed by this principle. This is the theory, but how then do we explain, for example, why it has so frequently happened that two countries supposedly acting in their own self-interest embark on a war which does both parties considerable harm? In the course of his investigation, Professor Gellner examines and compares the institutions and ideas of secular societies in which reason is believed to inform belief with those of avowedly theocratic (including Moslem) societies where belief informs reason.

A propos du livre

Quatrième de couverture

Since the seventeenth century, Western society has had a turbulent relationship with Reason. Descartes set out to reorganize all his opinions in the light of Reason, allowing, as Pascal bitterly reproached him, nothing else. In the course of the centuries which followed, the relationship with Reason became the object of a vigorous, often passionate debate. David Hume declared Reason to be impotent; Immanuel Kant observed that men suffered from "misology" as the result of their disappointed expectations of Reason; G. W. F. Hegel declared that the main insight of philosophy consisted of the realization that reason masterminded and guided all history.

The debate has not remained restricted to philosophy. Max Weber, the most influential modern sociologist, was obsessed with the distinctive role of Reason in Western society, and the part it played in engendering industrialism. Social anthropologists have been preoccupied both with the universality and the diversity of conceptual thought. Emile Durkheim taught them to ask why all men were rational, whilst Max Weber taught sociologists to ask why some men were more rational than others.

This book brings together the philosophical, historical and sociological discussions of rationality and strives to make clear the underlying issues and the continuity of the debate under the various idioms.

Revue de presse

"Elegantly written, lucid; instructive and easy to read." Times

"Exciting, even exhilarating reading." Times Literary Supplement

"Fascinating and extremely well written work. Excellent bibliography and index. Highly recommended! All levels." Choice

"Reason and Culture amounts to a personal testament – Gellner′s fullest, strongest, and most accessible formulation of his commitment to reason. The book is fascinating." Contemporary Sociology

"He writes here as elegantly, trenchantly and wittily as in his numerous other books." ANZJS

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Blackwell Publishers
• Date d'édition: 1992
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0631137114
• ISBN 13: 9780631137115
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 160
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible