Human life is conducted within a network of social relations, social groups, and societies. Grasping the implications of that fact starts with understanding social metaphysics. Social metaphysics provides a foundation for social theory, as well as for social epistemology, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, action theory, ethics, and political philosophy. This volume will interest anyone concerned with mind, action, or the foundations of social theory. Socializing Metaphysics supplies diverse answers, from a broad array of voices, to the basic questions of social metaphysics. What is it for human beings to stand in social relations or form social groups? Do these relations and groups bring about something above and beyond the individuals involved? Is there any sense to the notion of a human being apart from social relations? How can an individual achieve autonomy within a society? In what sense are human kinds like race and gender socially constructed? The answers are found within.

About the Author
Frederick F. Schmitt is professor of philosophy at Indiana University. He is author of Knowledge and Belief (1992) and Truth: A Primer (1995), and editor of Socializing Epistemology: The Social Dimensions of Knowledge (Rowman & Littlefield, 1994).

Reviews
Anyone interested in the subject of the metaphysics of the social should own this anthology and study it with care. It contains the latest developments in the thinking of some of the main contributors to the field, and the admirable introduction sets the context for these contributions in a way that allows even the uninitiated to find them accessible. -- Carol Rovane, Columbia University
... the volume has far too many virtues to be left outside an course reading lists or library orders on social theory. * Metapsychology Online *



Book Information
ISBN 9780742514294
Author Frederick F. Schmitt
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 513g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 147mm * 22mm