To Flourish or Destruct : A Personalist Theory of Human Goods, Motivations, Failure, and Evil

In his 2010 book __What Is a Person?,__ Christian Smith argued that sociology had for too long neglected this fundamental question. Prevailing social theories, he wrote, do not adequately “capture our deep subjective experience as persons, crucial dimensions of the richness of our own lived lives, what thinkers in previous ages might have called our ‘souls’ or ‘hearts.’” Building on Smith’s previous work, __To Flourish or Destruct__ examines the motivations intrinsic to this subjective experience: Why do people do what they do? How can we explain the activity that gives rise to all human social life and social structures? Smith argues that our actions stem from a motivation to realize what he calls natural human goods: ends that are, by nature, constitutionally good for all human beings. He goes on to explore the ways we can and do fail to realize these ends—a failure that can result in varying gradations of evil. Rooted in critical realism and informed by work in philosophy, psychology, and other fields, Smith’s ambitious book situates the idea of personhood at the center of our attempts to understand how we might shape good human lives and societies. Christian Smith Is A Force To Conjure With In Sociology, Both In Its Empirical Forays (studies Of Youth And Religious Life) And In Its Higher Reaches Of Theory, Where His Work Sets Out To Move Culture, Morality, And Identity To The Center Of Social Thought. We Published His 2011 Book, What Is A Person?, To Critical Plaudits And Healthy Sales. Striking A Middle Path Between Extremes Of Positivist Science And Relativism, Smith S Theory Of Personhood Teased Out How We Can Know What Is Good In Personal And Social Life, And What Sociology Can Tell Us About Human Rights And Dignity. To Flourish Or Destruct Is A Sequel. It Builds On The Earlier Book To Explore The Question Of Human Motivations For Action. In Arguing For A Sociological Turn In A More Humanist Direction, He Sets Up A Scaffolding For A Philosophy Of Moral Realism That Makes Human Flourishing (the Realization Of Basic Human Goods) A Centerpiece Of Social Science. Smith S Aristotelian Account Of Flourishing Argues That Genuinely Investing In The Flourishing Of Other People Is A Necessary Condition For Personal Flourishingin Short, Learning To Love Others. The Guiding Assumption Is That Flourishing Is The Natural Aim Of All Human Life. He Then Turns To The Question Of Evil (the Absence Or Privation Of What Is Good), With Extended Consideration Of Stalin And Hitler And Totalitarianism In General, In Contrast To His Inventory Of Basic Human Goods, Motivations, And Interests. The Title Poses The Question: Will I Flourish Or Will I Destruct? On Which Path Is My Life Moving? In his 2010 book What is a Person?, Christian Smith argued that sociology had for too long neglected this fundamental question. Prevailing social theories, he wrote, do not adequately "capture our deep subjective experience as persons, curcial dimensions of the richness of our own lived lives, what thinkers in previous ages might have called our 'souls' or 'heart.'" Building on Smith's previous work, To Flourish or Destruct examines the motivations intrinsic to this subjective experience: Why do people do what they do? How can we explain the activity that gives rise to all human social life and social structures? Smith argues that our actions stem from a motivation to realize what he calls natural human goods: ends that are, by nature, constitutionally good for all human beings. He goes on to explore the ways we can and do fail to realize these ends - a failure that can result in varying gradations of evil. Rooted in critical realism and informed by work in philosophy, psychology, and other fields, Smith's ambitious book situates the idea of personhood at the center of our attempt to understand how we might shape good human lives and societies. -- Page [4] of cover In his 2010 book What is a Person?, Christian Smith argued that sociology had for too long neglected this fundamental question. Prevailing social theories, he wrote, do not adequately "capture our deep subjective experience as persons, curcial dimensions of the richness of our own lived lives, what thinkers in previous ages might have called our 'souls' or 'heart.'" Building on Smith's previous work, To Flourish or Destruct examines the motivations intrinsic to this subjective experience: Why do people do what they do? How can we explain the activity that gives rise to all human social life and social structures? Smith argues that our actions stem from a motivation to realize what he calls natural human goods: ends that are, by nature, constitutionally good for all human beings. He goes on to explore the ways we can and do fail to realize these ends - a failure that can result in varying gradations of evil. Rooted in critical realism and informed by work in philosophy, psychology, and other fields, Smith's ambitious book situates the idea of personhood at the center of our attempt to understand how we might shape good human lives and societies. -- from dust jacket This title advances a personalist account of human beings to help us better understand and explain human persons, motivations, interests, and the social life to which they give rise. It offers an alternative to the standard views in contemporary sociology and most of the rest of social science. It seeks to answer three big questions: What basic motivations and interests generate and direct human action? What is by nature good for human beings? How should we understand and explain the lack of goodness that is so prevalent and damaging in human life? Examines the motivations intrinsic to this subjective experience: Why do people do what they do? How can we explain the activity that gives rise to all human social life and social structures? This book argues that our actions stem from a motivation to realize what he calls natural human goods: ends that are, by nature, and more.