Understanding Ourselves: Essays in the History and Philosophy of the Social Sciences

by John H. Morgan (GTF Books, 2015)

This book is now available for order.

In just over a century, the social sciences have grown from a non-entity to a major force in the areas of public policy, globalization, cultural pluralism, and biodiversity. From Herbert Spencer’s monolithic salvo into the construction of what was initially called “social physic” to Edward O. Wilson’s historic work in biodiversity, the history and philosophy of the social sciences have come of age. Because science of any kind does not exist in a vacuum and does not self-create but is the product of a community of minds focused corporately upon an analytical problem, we cannot speak of the social sciences without realizing that it was the social scientists who created the science. Therefore, this collection of essays addresses key thinkers and their specific contributions to this broad field of study.

The human person is not a solitary entity but exists as a social reality owing to the relational matrix within which homo sapiens have evolved. The realization of this emergent phenomenon has occupied our attention in the social sciences for better than a century, and the individuals considered in this collection, each in their own field, have made specific contributions to a deepening of our understanding of the human animal as a person in society. The book is specifically designed to serve as an historical and philosophical foundation to the study of the social sciences.

_______________________________________

This new title will be used in a number of Online courses offered by Dr. John H. Morgan to GTF students. To see a list of his online courses and to read more about his areas of research, please visit his faculty profile.