The Social Animal - Hardcover

W. G. Runciman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 047209730X ISBN 13: 9780472097302

Publisher: University of Michigan Press, 2000

Synopsis

W. G. Runciman's masterly book sets out the present extent of our knowledge about how human groups, communities, institutions, and societies work and the social forces that act upon people who live within them. In a brief span, Runciman conveys both how fascinating the study of society is and what a particularly exciting time this is for that study, with all the developments being made in the behavioral sciences, whether in demography, linguistics, or economics, or in genetics, biological anthropology, and developmental and cognitive psychology. The linking theme of the book is an approach to sociology based not on the outdated dogmas of Marxism or Social Darwinism but on current neo-evolutionary theory.
W. G. Runciman is Senior Research Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge, a Fellow of the British Academy, and a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His previous books include Relative Deprivation and Social Justice, A Critique of Max Weber's Philosophy of Social Science, and his three-volume A Treatise on Social Theory. He is also Chairman of the shipping group Andrew Weir & Co. Ltd. and Deputy Chairman of the Financial Services Authority. He chaired the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice in England and Wales 1991-93.

About this title

Review:

‘W. G. Runciman is something of a phenomenon... [The Social Animal] is always good and at times brilliant. On every page there is something to stimulate, engross or madden the reader, and for once, the reviewer’s cliche
“continuously absorbing”, expresses the truth.’
Frank McLynn, Literary Review

From the Back Cover:

W.G. Runciman's masterly book sets out the present extent of our knowledge about how human groups, communities, institutions and societies work, and the social forces that act upon the people who live within them. With admirable succinctness, he surveys an extraordinarily wide range of intellectual disciplines while also proposing an approach to sociology based not on the outdated dogmas of Marxism or Social Darwinism but on current neo-evolutionary theory.

"Garry Runciman... is one of the most distinguished sociologists writing today... To write a general defence of sociology was always going to be an uphill struggle. It's a tribute to the clarity of his thinking, and the urbanity of his style, that this particular uphill struggle has all the ease and elegance of a gentle afternoon stroll...demonstrating that sociology can tell us things about human existence which are probably true, certainly interesting, and sometimes not obvious at all... this stimulating book is well worth reading."
NOEL MALCOM, 'Sunday Telegraph'

"Erudite and entertaining; the author has lost none of has ability to provoke and stimulate."

JULIAN LE GRAND, 'New Statesman'

"He roams with enviable ease through anthropology and history and is not afraid to put his classical education to good use... concise and well written"
SAMUEL BRITTAN, 'Financial Times'

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 047209730X
• ISBN 13: 9780472097302
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240