What It Contains

by Kurt H. Wolff

What It Contains brings together the newest and most important essays of one of the most eminent and creative twentieth-century social theorists, Kurt H. Wolff. More than simply a collection of essays, this is a unified book with a highly self-reflexive and self-referential commentary running throughout the text. Extending and expanding on some of Wolff's important earlier work, the book covers topics that are of vital importance today: surrrender-and-catch, the ineluctable, man as a mixed phenomenon, and the paradox of socialization. In the course of presenting an important and coherent statement of his sociology, Wolff explores the work of Heidegger, Arendt, Simmel, and Mannheim and the themes of dualism and the abyss of language. This work will stimulate debate among phenomenologists, existentialists, continental thinkers, and anyone interested in sociological analysis that is not only extraordinarily learned but also deeply personal.

184 pages, Hardcover

First published November 6, 2002