Klappentext The task of understanding human beings! what we ourselves are! our constitution and condition! is a perennial problem in philosophy and related disciplines. Smith argues here that our understanding of human persons is threatened by technological development and capricious academic theories alike! seeking to deny or relativize the personhood of humanity. Smith's book puts a stake in the ground! in defense of a view of the human that is genuinely humanistic in the traditional sense and capable of sustaining with intellectual coherence things like modern human rights and universal benevolence. Zusammenfassung What is a person? This fundamental question is a perennial concern of philosophers and theologians. This book argues that it also lies at the center of the social scientist's quest to interpret and explain social life. It presents a model for social theory that does justice to the best of our humanistic visions of people! life! and society.

Autorentext

Christian Smith is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Sociology, director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society, and executive director of the Center for Social Research at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers and Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture.

Klappentext

The task of understanding human beings, what we ourselves are, our constitution and condition, is a perennial problem in philosophy and related disciplines. Smith argues here that our understanding of human persons is threatened by technological development and capricious academic theories alike, seeking to deny or relativize the personhood of humanity. Smith's book puts a stake in the ground, in defense of a view of the human that is genuinely humanistic in the traditional sense and capable of sustaining with intellectual coherence things like modern human rights and universal benevolence.

Zusammenfassung
What is a person? This fundamental question is a perennial concern of philosophers and theologians. This book argues that it also lies at the center of the social scientist's quest to interpret and explain social life. It presents a model for social theory that does justice to the best of our humanistic visions of people, life, and society.