Enlightenment and Despair: A History of Social Theory (Cambridge Paperback Library)

Geoffrey Hawthorn has written a substantial conclusion for the second edition of his widely acclaimed critical history of social theory in England, France, Germany and the USA from the eighteenth century onwards. Hawthorn begins with the 'prehistory' of the subject and traces, particularly in the thought of Rousseau, Kant and Hegel, the emergence of certain fundamental distinctions and assumptions whose existence is often overlooked in studies of the traditional 'founding-fathers' of sociology like Marx, Durkheim and Weber. Enlightenment And Doubt -- English Empiricism And French Rationalism -- The Problem Of Man's Place: Montesquieu And Rousseau -- Kant's Solutions To Man's Place -- Herder's Extension And Kant's Objection -- Romanticism -- Reason In History: Hegel -- Hegel Supposedly Transformed -- Making A Necessary History: Marx -- France After The Revolution -- A Positive Solution: Saint-simon And Comte -- England And Utilitariansim -- A Positive Promise: J.s. Mill -- The Evolution Of Altruism: Hobhouse -- France After 1871 -- Rationalising The Republic: Durkheim Germany After 1871 -- Materialsim And Geist -- Understanding The Reich: Max Weber -- Europe After 1918 -- The United States: Liberalism In A Vacuum -- Defending Slavery And Millionaires -- Europe After 1945 -- Germany: Old Dominations And Critical Theories -- The Decomposition Of American Thought -- England: A Less Common Sense. Geoffrey Hawthorn. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 276-303.

Geoffrey Hawthorn has written a substantial new conclusion for the second edition of his widely acclaimed critical history of social theory in England, France, Germany and the USA from the eighteenth century to the present. Hawthorn begins with the 'prehistory' of the subject and traces, particularly in the thought of Rousseau, Kant and Hegel, the emergence of certain fundamental distinctions and assumptions whose existence is often overlooked in studies of the traditional 'founding-fathers' of sociology like Marx, Durkheim and Weber.

Geoffrey Hawthorn has written an acclaimed critical history of social theory in England, France, Germany and the USA from the eighteenth century onwards. He examines not only the 'founding-fathers' of sociology (Marx, Durkheim and Weber), Hawthorn also examines the work of Rousseau, Kant and Hegel.