A Theory of Social Action

A Theory of Social Action
Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages : 544
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9789400963177
ISBN-13 : 9400963173
Rating : 4/5 (173 Downloads)

Book Synopsis A Theory of Social Action by : R. Tuomela

Download or read book A Theory of Social Action written by R. Tuomela and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is somewhat surprising to find out how little serious theorizing there is in philosophy (and in social psychology as well as sociology) on the nature of social actions or joint act. hons in the sense of actions performed together by several agents. Actions performed by single agents have been extensively discussed both in philosophy and in psycho~ogy. There is, ac cordingly, a booming field called action theory in philosophy but it has so far strongly concentrated on actions performed by single agents only. We of course should not forget game theory, a discipline that systematically studies the strategic interac tion between several rational agents. Yet this important theory, besides being restricted to strongly rational acting, fails to study properly several central problems related to the concep tual nature of social action. Thus, it does not adequately clarify and classify the various types of joint action (except perhaps from the point of view of the agents' utilities). This book presents a systematic theory of social action. Because of its reliance on so-called purposive causation and generation it is called the purposive-causal theory. This work also discusses several problems related to the topic of social action, for instance that of how to create from this perspective the most central concepts needed by social psychology and soci ology. While quite a lot of ground is covered in the book, many important questions have been left unanswered and many others unasked as well.


A Theory of Social Action Related Books

A Theory of Social Action
Language: en
Pages: 544
Authors: R. Tuomela
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-12-06 - Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

It is somewhat surprising to find out how little serious theorizing there is in philosophy (and in social psychology as well as sociology) on the nature of soci
After Parsons
Language: en
Pages: 364
Authors: Renee C. Fox
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2005-08-25 - Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Esteemed twentieth-century sociologist Talcott Parsons sought to develop a comprehensive and coherent scheme for sociology that could be applied to every societ
The Explanation of Social Action
Language: en
Pages: 411
Authors: John Levi Martin
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011-06-01 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Explanation of Social Action is a sustained critique of the conventional understanding of what it means to "explain" something in the social sciences. It ma
The Theory of Social Action
Language: en
Pages: 184
Authors: Alfred Schutz
Categories: Social sciences
Type: BOOK - Published: 1978 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Society in Action
Language: en
Pages: 236
Authors: Piotr Sztompka
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 1991-08-27 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Society in Action, Piotr Sztompka sets forth a highly topical contribution to central theoretical debates of contemporary sociology. Taking the idea and prac