Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

By controversially turning away from the current debates which surround social theory, this book provides an historical analysis of the profound burden of sociology and its implications today.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. xi)
• Acknowledgements (p. xv)
• Part I From philosophy to the sociology of knowledge (p. 1)
• 1 Sociologists and philosophy (p. 3)
• Preamble (p. 3)
• The culture of philosophers (p. 5)
• The sociological revolution (p. 10)
• Sociology and philosophy today (p. 14)
• Philosophy as a culture of defence (p. 18)
• Philosophers' self-definitions (p. 21)
• The 'end of philosophy' thesis (p. 23)
• 2 The Hegelian apogee (p. 27)
• Kant and Hegel (p. 27)
• The Kantian hegemony (p. 29)
• The Hegelian temptation (p. 31)
• Sociological observations (p. 35)
• Metacritique or socio-genesis? (p. 40)
• 3 Marx's theory of knowledge as a partial breakthrough (p. 41)
• The theory and practice dualism (p. 41)
• The primacy of the practical (p. 43)
• Marx's synthesis: the practical core (p. 45)
• The theoretical inertia of the Marxian tradition (p. 50)
• Part II Figurational explorations (p. 55)
• 4 The limits of transcendental sociology (p. 57)
• The ubiquity of transcendentalism (p. 57)
• Back to Parsons (p. 58)
• The Kantian inspiration (p. 60)
• Transcendentalism or developmentalism? (p. 62)
• Excursus: social phenomenology as proto-sociology (p. 64)
• 5 The structure of structuralism (p. 68)
• Preamble (p. 68)
• Structuralism: a first approximation (p. 68)
• The individual ego or knowing subject (p. 71)
• Metaphysical dualisms (p. 73)
• Positivism and empiricism (p. 75)
• Theories of diachronic social processes (p. 77)
• Structuralism as para-sociology: Levi Strauss and Foucault (p. 79)
• Summary (p. 90)
• 6 Globalization as an emergent concept (p. 93)
• An emerging area of inquiry (p. 93)
• Foreunners (p. 97)
• Marx's synthesis: global aspects (p. 100)
• Thinking globally (p. 103)
• Sociological issues (p. 105)
• Orientation and disorientation (p. 110)
• 7 Structuration theory as a world-view (p. 115)
• Parsonian affinities (p. 115)
• New Liberal affinities (p. 117)
• The scope of sociology (p. 120)
• Philosophy and 'social theory' (p. 127)
• Interaction or interdependence? (p. 131)
• Systematics or socio-genesis? (p. 137)
• 8 Sociology since 1945: socio-genetic and psychogenetic aspects (p. 145)
• Validity, progress and phaseology (p. 145)
• The institutionalization of sociology: the British case (p. 147)
• Functional democratization and informalization (p. 147)
• The three phases of post-war sociology (p. 153)
• Epilogue (p. 172)
• 9 Concluding remarks (p. 173)
• Notes (p. 180)
• Bibliography (p. 193)
• Index (p. 214)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Kilminster's study is a bold foray into the world of sociological theory. The author squares off in aggressive fashion against the philosophical establishment's claim to being the final arbiter in matters pertaining to validity in sociological inquiry; he attacks Anthony Giddens's widely acclaimed structuration theory and numerous major thinkers such as Kant, Hegel, and Parsons. He adds to these trenchant, provocative, and authoritative critiques a more substantive and insightful analysis of a currently significant and problematic topic, globalization. In chapter 7, Kilminster presents an original analysis of the "sociology of sociology" since 1945, which delves into the sociogenic and psychogenic aspects of the discipline. He writes with a decidedly British academic accent, which not only exudes confidence but also occasionally shades over into arrogance, though he is careful to delimit the claims he makes for his sometimes strong and harsh judgments. Still, the author is decidedly well versed in his subject matter and communicates with considerable precision and clarity. The book deserves wide attention for its revitalization of the sociology of knowledge perspective. Upper-division undergraduates and above. W. P. Nye; Hollins University