The Birth of Social Theory

Nader Saiedi's work considers the important sociological contributions made by minds of the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The author synthesizes and creates a dialogue between the rationalist and non-rationalist world views and investigates the ideas behind both perspectives; he includes literary values such as the changing meaning of the metaphor to represent theoretical revolution and reinterprets influences on modern social theory. Contents: The Social Context of the Enlightenment; The Enlightenment and the Birth of Human Sciences; Epistemology, Theory of Action, and Political Philosophy of the Enlightenment; The Antinomies of the Enlightenment; The Meaning of the Term Romanticism; Types of Romanticism and Their Social Contexts; Epistemology of Freedom: Early Romanticism; The Epistemology of Tradition: Later Romanticism; Early Romantic Theory of Action: Freedom and Irony; Social Action as Play; Romantic Poetry as Transcendental; Action as Madness and Genius; The Normative Orientation of Action; Political Philosophy and the Problem of Order.