A Social Ontology [Hardcover]

Professor David Weissman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 2000

Moral and social philosophers often assume that humans beings are and ought to be autonomous. This tradition of individualism, or atomism, underlies many of our assumptions about ethics and law; it provides a legitimating framework for liberal democracy and free market capitalism. In this powerful book, David Weissman argues against atomistic ontologies, affirming instead that all of reality is social. Every particular is a system created by the reciprocal causal relations of its parts, he explains. Weissman formulates an original metaphysics of nature that remains true to what is known through the empirical sciences, and he applies his hypothesis to a range of topics in psychology, morals, sociology, and politics. The author contends that systems are sometimes mutually independent, but many systems, and human ones especially, are joined in higher order systems, such as families, friendships, businesses, and states, that are overlapping or nested. Weissman tests this schematic claim with empirical examples in chapters on persons, sociality, and value. He also considers how the scheme applies to particular issues related to deliberation, free speech, conflict, and ecology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Philosophers with a fine attachment to 19th-century-style philosophical treatises will enjoy this well-written, well-argued, historically sensitive book." -- Choice

About the Author

David Weissman is professor of philosophy at City College of New York. He is the author of Truth's Debt to Value (ISBN 0 300 05425 4, #27.50) and the editor of Reni Descartes' Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy (ISBN 0 300 06773 9 pb. #10.95), both published by Yale University Press.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (January 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300079036
• ISBN-13: 978-0300079036
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,797,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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