About the Book
This volume brings together some of the biggest names in the field of sociology to celebrate the work of Pitirim A. Sorokin, professor and founder of the department of sociology at Harvard University. Sorokin, a past president of the American Sociological Association, was a pioneer in many fields of research, including sociological theory, social philosophy, methodology, and sociology of science, law, art, and knowledge. Edward A. Tiryakian's updated introduction examines major factors, inside and outside sociology, that have led to new appreciation of Sorokin's contributions and scholarship, and demonstrates their continued relevance. This new edition also includes an updated bibliography of works by and about Sorokin.
The volume includes Arthur K. Davis, who describes Sorokin's importance as a teacher in the Socratic tradition. Talcott Parsons examines internal differentiation in Christianity in its historical Western development. Thomas O'Dea deals with the institutionalization of religious values. Walter Firey examines how actors relate their conception of a distant future to their present behavior. Florence Kluckhohn focuses upon the problem of cultural variations within a social system. Robert K. Merton and Elinor Barber examine the sociological aspect of ambivalence. Bernard Barber considers the American business's efforts to institutionalize professionalism.
Other contributors include Charles P. Loomis, Wilbert E. Moore, Georges Gurvitch, Marion J. Levy, Jr., Nicholas S. Timasheff, Carle Zimmerman, and Logan Wilson. This volume is an essential collection of essays concerning the work of one of the most prominent thinkers in twentieth-century sociology.
Table of Contents:
Introduction to the Transaction Edition, Edward A. Tiryakian Preface, Edward A. Tiryakian Lessons from Sorokin, Arthur K. Davis Some Problems for a Unified Theory of Human Nature, Marion J. Levy, Jr. Christianity and Modem Industrial Society, Talcott Parsons Sociological Dilemmas: Five Paradoxes of Institutionalization, Thomas F. O'Dea Sociological Ambivalence, Robert K. Merton and Elinor Barber Is American Business Becoming Professionalized? Analysis of a Social Ideology, Bernard Barber Conditions for the Realization of Values Remote in Time, Walter Firey The Temporal Structure of Organizations, Wilbert E. Moore Social Structure and the Multiplicity of Times, Georges Gurvitch Social Change and Social Systems, Charles P. Loomis Some Reflections on the Nature of Cultural Integration and Change, Florence R. Kluckholm Convergence of the Major Human Family Systems During the Space Age, Carle C. Zimmerman Don Luigi Sturzo's Sociological Theory, Nicholas S. Timasheff Disjunctive Processes in an Academic Milieu, Logan Wilson Bibliography of Pitirim A. Sorokin Supplementary Select Bibliography of Works by and on Pitirim A. Sorkin Contributors
About the Author :
Edward A. Tiryakian is professor emeritus of sociology at Duke University, USA. He has served as director of international studies, as well as past president of the American Society for the Study of Religion and of the International Association of French-Speaking Sociologists. His most recent work is For Durkheim: Essays in Historical and Cultural Sociology.
Review :
-After a considerable period of studied neglect in American sociology, Sorokin's contributions . . . have been receiving renewed attention. The Festschrift under review is one of several current expressions of interest in the ideas of a distinguished and controversial figure in modern sociology.- --Robin M. Williams, Jr., American Sociological Review -For handy reference, a fairly up-to-date bibliography of Sorokin's writings has been placed at the end of the volume. Students of sociological theory may find this book to be one useful part of the lengthening shadow cast by the scholar whom it seeks to honor.- --Alvin Boskoff, Social Forces -[T]his collection is worth looking into. . . . The contributors have had close contact with Professor Sorokin--as students, colleagues, and friends--and here expose their latest thoughts in the three areas stressed by Sorokin that make up the book's title.- --Leon H. Warshay, The Sociological Quarterly -The collection of essays assembled by Tiryakian is in the pattern of a Festschrift. Most of the contributors were associated with Sorokin at Harvard, and they do him honor by advancing propositions and ideas drawn from their own current work.- --Otis Dudley Duncan, American Journal of Sociology
"After a considerable period of studied neglect in American sociology, Sorokin's contributions . . . have been receiving renewed attention. The Festschrift under review is one of several current expressions of interest in the ideas of a distinguished and controversial figure in modern sociology." --Robin M. Williams, Jr., American Sociological Review "For handy reference, a fairly up-to-date bibliography of Sorokin's writings has been placed at the end of the volume. Students of sociological theory may find this book to be one useful part of the lengthening shadow cast by the scholar whom it seeks to honor." --Alvin Boskoff, Social Forces "[T]his collection is worth looking into. . . . The contributors have had close contact with Professor Sorokin--as students, colleagues, and friends--and here expose their latest thoughts in the three areas stressed by Sorokin that make up the book's title." --Leon H. Warshay, The Sociological Quarterly "The collection of essays assembled by Tiryakian is in the pattern of a Festschrift. Most of the contributors were associated with Sorokin at Harvard, and they do him honor by advancing propositions and ideas drawn from their own current work." --Otis Dudley Duncan, American Journal of Sociology
