Review by Choice Review
Smith (Univ. of Notre Dame; Moral, Believing Animals, CH, May'04, 41-5236) combines a meticulous command of sociological theory, philosophical analysis, and moral passion to argue against reductionist theories of human personhood and agency. Smith gives a charitable and careful reading to theorists who argue that social and economic factors fully determine human behavior, and he finds their proposals wanting. He acknowledges that social construction theory has truths to tell, but notes that the realities of embodiment and human interactions with the physical world limit the range of plausible constructions of meaning and identity. Smith argues for a "critical realist personalism"--a notion of identity formation that acknowledges social structures' influence on human being and knowing, but also acknowledges that humans can make free moral commitments and choices not fully explained by mathematical or network models of social behavior. This book is crucial reading for political scientists and sociologists, as well as theologians and philosophers. Many will disagree with portions of Smith's analysis, but this book will become required reading. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty/researchers. A. W. Klink Duke University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
