Why things matter to people [electronic resource] : social science, values and ethical life / Andrew Sayer.
2011
HM681 .S29 2011eb
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Title
Why things matter to people [electronic resource] : social science, values and ethical life / Andrew Sayer.
Author
Sayer, R. Andrew.
ISBN
9781139011181 (electronic bk.)
9781107001145
9780521171649 (pbk.)
9781107001145
9780521171649 (pbk.)
Imprint
Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (ix, 284 p.)
Call Number
HM681 .S29 2011eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
303.3/7201
Summary
"Andrew Sayer undertakes a fundamental critique of social science's difficulties in acknowledging that people's relation to the world is one of concern. As sentient beings, capable of flourishing and suffering, and particularly vulnerable to how others treat us, our view of the world is substantially evaluative. Yet modernist ways of thinking encourage the common but extraordinary belief that values are beyond reason, and merely subjective or matters of convention, with little or nothing to do with the kind of beings people are, the quality of their social relations, their material circumstances or well-being. The author shows how social theory and philosophy need to change to reflect the complexity of everyday ethical concerns and the importance people attach to dignity. He argues for a robustly critical social science that explains and evaluates social life from the standpoint of human flourishing"-- Provided by publisher.
"This book is about social science's difficulties in acknowledging that people's relation to the world is one of concern. When we ask a friend how they are, they might reply in any number of ways, for example: 'I'm OK, thanks: my daughter's enjoying school, things are good at home and we've just had a great holiday.' 'Not so good: the boss is always in a bad mood and I'm worried about losing my job.' 'OK myself but I'm really appalled by what's been happening in the war.''I'm a bit depressed: I don't know where my life is going.' Such responses indicate that things matter to people, and make a difference to 'how they are'. Their lives can go well or badly, and their sense of well-being depends at least in part on how these other things that they care about - significant others, practices, objects, political causes - are faring, and on how others are treating them"-- Provided by publisher.
"This book is about social science's difficulties in acknowledging that people's relation to the world is one of concern. When we ask a friend how they are, they might reply in any number of ways, for example: 'I'm OK, thanks: my daughter's enjoying school, things are good at home and we've just had a great holiday.' 'Not so good: the boss is always in a bad mood and I'm worried about losing my job.' 'OK myself but I'm really appalled by what's been happening in the war.''I'm a bit depressed: I don't know where my life is going.' Such responses indicate that things matter to people, and make a difference to 'how they are'. Their lives can go well or badly, and their sense of well-being depends at least in part on how these other things that they care about - significant others, practices, objects, political causes - are faring, and on how others are treating them"-- Provided by publisher.
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Description based on print version record.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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Why things matter to people.
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Table of Contents
Introduction: a relation to the world of concern
Values within reason
Reason beyond rationality: values and practical reason
Beings for whom things matter
Understanding the ethical dimension of life
Dignity
Critical social science and its rationales
Implications for social science
Appendix: comments on philosophical theories of ethics.
Values within reason
Reason beyond rationality: values and practical reason
Beings for whom things matter
Understanding the ethical dimension of life
Dignity
Critical social science and its rationales
Implications for social science
Appendix: comments on philosophical theories of ethics.