Böcker av Gerard Delanty

A collection of over sixty extracts from classic works on the philosophy of social science. It highlights the work of some of the influential authors who have shaped social science.

The future has become a problem for the present. Almost every critical issue is now understood and experienced through the prism of the future since this is the primary focus for the playing out of crises. Senses of the Future offers a wide-ranging discussion of theories of the future. It covers the main ideas of the future in modern thought and explores how we should view the future today in light of a plurality of very different and conflicting visions. The key contribution of this book is to bring together the different approaches with an account that is grounded in sociological and philosophical analysis as opposed to visions of the future that are inspired by extreme visions of catastrophe or approaches that see the future as only the continuation of the present. Given a revival of apocalyptical visions of the 'end times' and dystopian views of the future of human societies, there is urgent need for a new approach on how we should imagine the future. The author explores the future as a field of tensions that is revealed in narratives, utopian desires, hope, imaginaries, and social struggles concerning the potential possibilities of the present: the future does not just arrive; it has to be fought for. This book is an important contribution to a critical sociology of the future. It is both a work of reconstruction and critique grounded in a historical and philosophical hermeneutics of the future. Table of Contents Chapter OneIntroduction: Conflicting Visions of the FutureContested Visions of the Future TodayReturn to the FutureOutline of the ChaptersReferences Chapter TwoWhen is the Future? The Problem of Time and the Human ConditionTime in the Physical World: Lessons from PhysicsHas the Future already Begun? Time and HistoryTime, Life, and the Human Condition: Biology, Evolution, and CultureConclusionReferences Chapter ThreeLessons from the Past: What Does the Past Tell Us about the Future?The Future in the PastFailed Societies and Civilizational CollapseCatastrophes and HistoryConclusionReferences Chapter FourModernity and the Concept of the Future: Utopia, Progress, and ProphecyThe Future as ExpectationThe Future as an Imaginary and the Emergence of UtopianismThe Future as PossibilityThe Future as ExperienceConclusionReferences Chapter FiveIdeas of the Future in the Twentieth Century: Futurism, Modernism, Sociology, and Political TheoryNew Political Ideas of the Future after 1945Responses to the Future: From Fear of the Future to FuturologySociological Theory and the FutureConclusion: The New Sociology of the FutureReferences Chapter SixCritical Theory and the Future: The Sources of TranscendenceThe Intellectual Origins of Critical Theory: A Brief OutlineThe Idea of the Future in the Critical Theory of the Early Frankfurt SchoolHabermas and the Communication ParadigmThe Responsibility Paradigm and Cosmopolitanism: Jonas and ApelCritical Cosmopolitanism and the Idea of the FutureConclusion: Cultural Models and the Future as PossibilityReferences Chapter SevenConclusion: In The Shadow of the FutureDo We Need a Theory of the Future?Are we already in a New Historical Era?AI and a Posthuman FutureStruggles for the FutureReferences Index

The future has become a problem for the present. Almost every critical issue is now understood and experienced through the prism of the future since this is the primary focus for the playing out of crises. Senses of the Future offers a wide-ranging discussion of theories of the future. It covers the main ideas of the future in modern thought and explores how we should view the future today in light of a plurality of very different and conflicting visions. The key contribution of this book is to bring together the different approaches with an account that is grounded in sociological and philosophical analysis as opposed to visions of the future that are inspired by extreme visions of catastrophe or approaches that see the future as only the continuation of the present. Given a revival of apocalyptical visions of the 'end times' and dystopian views of the future of human societies, there is urgent need for a new approach on how we should imagine the future. The author explores the future as a field of tensions that is revealed in narratives, utopian desires, hope, imaginaries, and social struggles concerning the potential possibilities of the present: the future does not just arrive; it has to be fought for. This book is an important contribution to a critical sociology of the future. It is both a work of reconstruction and critique grounded in a historical and philosophical hermeneutics of the future. Table of Contents Chapter One Introduction: Conflicting Visions of the Future Contested Visions of the Future Today Return to the Future Outline of the Chapters References Chapter Two When is the Future? The Problem of Time and the Human Condition Time in the Physical World: Lessons from Physics Has the Future already Begun? Time and History Time, Life, and the Human Condition: Biology, Evolution, and Culture Conclusion References Chapter Three Lessons from the Past: What Does the Past Tell Us about the Future? The Future in the Past Failed Societies and Civilizational Collapse Catastrophes and History Conclusion References Chapter Four Modernity and the Concept of the Future: Utopia, Progress, and Prophecy The Future as Expectation The Future as an Imaginary and the Emergence of Utopianism The Future as Possibility The Future as Experience Conclusion References Chapter Five Ideas of the Future in the Twentieth Century: Futurism, Modernism, Sociology, and Political Theory New Political Ideas of the Future after 1945 Responses to the Future: From Fear of the Future to Futurology Sociological Theory and the Future Conclusion: The New Sociology of the Future References Chapter Six Critical Theory and the Future: The Sources of Transcendence The Intellectual Origins of Critical Theory: A Brief Outline The Idea of the Future in the Critical Theory of the Early Frankfurt School Habermas and the Communication Paradigm The Responsibility Paradigm and Cosmopolitanism: Jonas and Apel Critical Cosmopolitanism and the Idea of the Future Conclusion: Cultural Models and the Future as Possibility References Chapter Seven Conclusion: In The Shadow of the Future Do We Need a Theory of the Future? Are we already in a New Historical Era? AI and a Posthuman Future Struggles for the Future References Index

What is social science? Does social scientific knowledge differ from other kinds of knowledge, such as the natural sciences and common sense? What is the relation between method and knowledge? This book provides a critical discussion and comprehensive overview of the philosophical debates on the methodological foundations of the social sciences.

Examines the social transformations in Europe from the perspective of social theory. This book offers an alternative to studies of the EU, which emphasise the replacement of the nation-state by a supra-national authority. It will be useful for readers from a range of social science disciplines, including sociology and political science.

A new way of conceptualizing the modernity-postmodernity debate, and an exciting new approach to the roots of contemporary social theory.

This book provides a critical interpretation of the construction of Irish national identity in the longer perspective of history. Drawing on recent sociological theory, the authors demonstrate how national identity was invented and codified by a nationalist intelligentsia in the late nineteenth century.

This book presents a historical and political sociology of European history and society. The book will be in an invaluable resource for advanced undergraduates and postgraduate students of historical sociology, the history of Europe, nations and modernity, political sociology, and political and social theory.