Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective [Paperback]

Peter L. Berger (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 1, 1963 | ISBN-10: 0385065299 | ISBN-13: 978-0385065290 | Edition: 1

This lucid book presents the discipline of sociology to both the general reader and the student. Viewing sociology in the humanist tradition, Berger points out its affinity to history and philosophy, as well as its need for scientific procedures.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This lucid book presents the discipline of sociology to both the general reader and the student. Viewing sociology in the humanist tradition, Berger points out its affinity to history and philosophy, as well as its need for scientific procedures.

From the Inside Flap

This lucid book presents the discipline of sociology to both the general reader and the student. Viewing sociology in the humanist tradition, Berger points out its affinity to history and philosophy, as well as its need for scientific procedures.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; 1 edition (March 1, 1963)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385065299
• ISBN-13: 978-0385065290
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter L. Berger (Boston, MA) is University Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, at Boston University and the founder and Senior Research Fellow of the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs. He has written numerous books on sociological theory, the sociology of religion, and Third World development. Among his more recent books are In Praise of Doubt (with Anton Zijderveld); Religious America, Secular Europe? (with Grace Davie and Effie Fokas); Questions of Faith; Many Globalizations (edited with Samuel Huntington); and Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience. Professor Berger has received honorary degrees from Loyola University, University of Notre Dame, University of Geneva, University of Munich, Sofia University, and Renmin University of China.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and entertaining intro to sociological thought June 19, 2000

By JDS

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Berger discusses the role and place of sociology in the modern world. He stresses sociological consciousness--seeing how macro structures shape individuals. He shows how what we think to be our long-standing social traditions and norms are really just arbitrarily socially constructed. Here he expands on the debunking tendecy of sociology to question our commonly accepted assumptions about the social world.

There are great examples of how society forms us internally and surrounds us externally. Berger demonstrates the different sociological perspectives as well as touching lightly on the differnt theorists (Durkheim, Weber, Simmel, etc.). In showing how one is boxed in by social forces, he uses a great metaphor of a person who stands in the center of concentric circles of social control (law, state, occupation, race, class, family, religion, etc.). Society also shapes us internally by providing systems of meaning, or ideologies, that help us make sense of the world.

He relates sociology not only to the social sciences but to the humanities and philosophy. The ethical considerations for sociological research are looked at in "Sociological Machiavellianism". The overall theme is that society limits freedom and individuals should question tradition by debunking the established order. Easy and interesting, he makes sociology relevant to everyday life.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A minor classic January 5, 2000

By Prof. R. Paris

Format:Paperback

In spite of its relatively advanced age, this book has retained its charm and overall validity. I had read it when it first came out, over 25 years ago. On re-reading I realized why it had captivated me then. It is closely argued, well balanced and highly informative. Furthermore, it is written in good English, something rare for sociology textbooks. It is too bad that the author has not thought of a new edition, updating and refreshing it. I'd recommend it very highly for anybody wishing to find out what is sociology all about.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Stil a great introduction to sociology of knowledge February 27, 2004

By W. Jamison VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Even with bright students (I am assuming some I have had are among the bright) there are problems with this book. It was a required text for my Sociology course in my student days and I have a fondness for what it did to me in leading me on to PB's "The Social Construction of Reality". SCR is clearly too difficult for most students and Invitation is much more accessible. Still, I have found students to be aghast at some of the expressions that clearly place it as a book of the sixties. On the other hand, I have not found a more accessible book that describes the postmodern point of view -- the view of sociology -- in as successful a way as this one. I therefore present it along with an explanation. It would be great if Peter Berger readdresses this invitation to new students with an update that incorporates politically correct language. The change in perspective is a tough experience. It would help if the language used were not an additional barrier.

I am still looking for a new book that will do the same thing to new students that this book did to me.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book...for EVERYONE. March 1, 2002

By Ace Lace

Format:Hardcover

Before reading this book I was not a sociology student. After this book I realized that we are all students of sociology, some better than others. The better ones live in more freedom, more understanding, seeing through walls of the fortress that our society is. Everything looks so normal, until you start to dissect.

This is a short book, PACKED with information. Berger's English is superb. It flows naturally with creative sentence formations and use of vocabulary.

If you find yourself discouraged, you may skip the first chapter. I found it least interesting of them all. Chapters following are great and will keep you glued to your reading chair.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a book that brings clarity and a "Big Picture". September 17, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

To read this book is to revisit the notion that clarity is reachable if one keeps to the "big" ideas. This book provides a hatrack to place many disparate ideas one has floating around about the connection between the social world and the psychological imprint it generates. This book may appear simple and sometimes lacking in depth but there is a reason it has lasted all these years

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Uncomplete review from some years back March 4, 2008

By Pablo Martin Podhorzer

Format:Paperback

Each new sociology student must read this book during his or her first year into the discipline, and each sociologist must read this book (or the notes he made in the past about it) once every couple years. Peter Berger wrote one of the most compelling treatises into a social science, bridging theme with emotion, intellectual associations, nice metaphors and analogies and a wealth of humor.

The first chapter ("Sociology as an individual pastime") stands alone as an excellent introduction to the science of society. Berger invites us here to a party where the sociologist meets with a plethora of intellectuals and finally succeeds to transcend as a different and respectable member of the scientific community. If something, this chapter alone is worth the reading of the book. Shoots at the American academy coherent with Berger's (and ours) admiration for Thosrtein Veblen are combined with an un-dissimulated hate for all complete non-critical systems of belief, including organized religion, 20th Century communism, free-market capitalism and psychoanalysis. The tendencies known in the field at the start of the sixties are only deepened now, and so the critical words Berger throws at statistical reductionism are completely current: "in science as in love a concentration on technique is quite likely to lead to impotence" [p.13]. What there isn't to love in that?

At the same time Berger is preoccupied to maintain values and beliefs far from the scientific logic of a social science. How you can be a humanist if your values must be maintained outside of your field of competence? Well, sociology teaches us about the relativity of institutions. Freedom is considered to be inscrutable to science, but given the sociological perspective, it can be reached.... So sociological thought is indispensable for the possibility of a free existence, and so becomes humanist in front of the supposedly unbreakable laws of social reality. Given that this is only a "perspective", this knowledge about society could also be used against or fellow men, and Berger is completely aware of that in an epoch so close to the age of totalitarism. Read more ›