Consciousness and Society

by H. Stuart Hughes, Stanley Hoffman (Introduction)

Hughes' ideas, and the way they are expressed in Consciousness and Society, have become paradigms of twentieth-century scholarship. In dealing with the changing social thought after 1890 in Europe, Hughes covers a wide array of thinkers and issues in a scholarly, yet graceful manner. His is a study of the "cluster of genius" of Europe at that Croce, Durkheim, Freud, Weber, and Nietzsche, as well as other great European minds. The book explores questions that are still relevant in today's Is the separation of facts and values tenable, or even desirable? Can rationality accommodate the ideas of a Bergson or a Freud? Is there, or should there be, a relationship between science and religion? And does history have any ultimate meaning for later generations?

Genres: Philosophy, Sociology, History, Nonfiction, European History, Politics, Psychology

466 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paret's view of the elite is astoundingly similar to that of Wright's and modern day analyses. The revolt against positivism is so cool in that it shows how the fascination with the unconscious (both collectively (Marx & Engels) and individually (Freud)), that as society acted on these ideas and changed them into policy and shaped how people think, neo-idealism emerged which eventually brought us post-modern thinking where the canon is now.

an excellent historical and sociological analysis of social thought.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only writing a dissertation could have prevented me from reading this in a day. Such a fantastic set of portraits, insights, and readings: a model of intellectual history at its most powerfully synthetic.

[Harry Beckwith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it once for Paul Robinson's superb class in college, then a second time for the kind of pleasure millions of people experience in reading novels.

Count me among this book's passionate fans. It seems seminal to me;

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

a fantastic sociological analysis of humanistic social thought a must read