Wittgenstein and the Idea of a Critical Social Theory: A Critique of Giddens, Habermas and Bhaskar

by Nigel Pleasants

Overview

This book uses the philosophy of Wittgenstein as a perspective from which to challenge the very idea of critical social theory, represented preeminently by Giddens, Habermas and Bhaskar. Renouncing the quest for an alternative Wittgensteinian theory of social and political life, the author shows that Wittgenstein nevertheless has considerable significance for critical thought and practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134657339
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/31/2002
Series:	Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	222
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Nigel Pleaants Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Exeter.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Wittgenstein and Critical Social Theory; Chapter 2 Does Wittgenstein Mean What he Says?; Chapter 3 Winch, Wittgenstein and Critical Social Theory; Chapter 4 Wittgenstein’s Rule-Following Remarks and Critical Social Theory; Chapter 5 Hayek’s and Giddens’s Epistemological Argument Against Socialism; Chapter 6 ‘Free to Act Otherwise’?; Chapter 7 Milgram Versus Garfinkel; Chapter 8 Habermas and The Idea of a Critical Social Theory; Chapter 9 Conclusion;