The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change

· Harvard University Press
4.2
4 reviews
Ebook
1120
Pages

About this ebook

Randall Collins traces the movement of philosophical thought in ancient Greece, China, Japan, India, the medieval Islamic and Jewish world, medieval Christendom, and modern Europe. What emerges from this history is a social theory of intellectual change, one that avoids both the reduction of ideas to the influences of society at large and the purely contingent local construction of meanings. Instead, Collins focuses on the social locations where sophisticated ideas are formed: the patterns of intellectual networks and their inner divisions and conflicts.

Ratings and reviews

4.2
4 reviews
A Google user
August 27, 2010
An important and timely attempt at a review of major strands of human thought relating them historically to their social bases. A brief glance at this challenging work convinces one that it should be carefully studied. I hope to set about this with the care it deserves. Nanda
A Google user
al-farabi setting it free

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