The Self and Others: Positioning Individuals and Groups in Personal, Political, and Cultural Contexts

by Rom Harré (Editor), Fathali M. Moghaddam

This volume focuses on relations between the self and other individuals, the self and groups, and the self and context. Leading scholars in the field of positioning theory present the newest developments from this field on human social relations. The discussion is international, multidisciplinary, and multi-method, aiming to achieve a more dynamic and powerful account of human social relations, and to break disciplinary boundaries.

Four features in this work are prominent. The book is culturally oriented and international. There is a push to move across disciplines, particularly across psychology and linguistics, and psychology and microsociology. There is a focus on language and social construction of the world through discourse. Finally, the book represents a multi-method approach that reflects discursive methods.

Genres: Psychology

328 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 2000

About the author

Rom Harré was Distinguished Professor in the Psychology Department of Georgetown University in Washington DC, and the Director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science in London. He was for many years the University Lecturer in Philosophy of Science at Oxford and Fellow of Linacre College. He began his career in mathematics and physics, turning later to the foundations of psychology. His research was directed to the use of models and other kinds of non-formal reasoning in the sciences, as well as a long series of studies on the role of causal powers and agency concepts in both natural and human sciences. He held Visiting Professorships in many places, including Australia, Spain and Japan. He was Honorary President of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry.