Böcker av Rodger Beehler

The Philosophy of Society (1978) examines no less a weighty subject than human society. In fifteen essays, it analyses a series of fundamentally important questions about how human beings organise themselves.

The Theory, Not the Theorist recovers Karl Marx''s social thought from the uncongenial embrace of "Marxism." In order to do this, author Rodger Beehler first establishes that the explanation of historical change implicit in Marx''s investigations of feudalism, capitalism, and European imperialism is not the "historical materialist" theory that he frequently claimed to have discovered. Secondly, the book shows that these two types of explanations are contradictory, and reveals Marx''s actual (and largely unread) historical investigations to be a deeply prescient understanding of European history and politics. The result is a compelling reading of Marx applicable to today''s world of global economies, imperialist politics, and eroding domestic liberties and livelihoods.

This work is a connected series of essays on morality, education, law, and society. All of the essays indeed "think against the grain," challenging some of the dominant thinkers and fashions of our time in a strikingly original and penetrating way. They force the reader to consider our hegemonic values, how we are to live our lives and view our world. Political theorists, social scientists, philosophers, educators, legal scholars, and cultural and literary theorists will find them profitable to study. While the book meets the standards expected by such scholars, its essays are written in a lively and accessible manner, which also makes them of interest to the general educated public.Written by the late Dr. Rodger Beehler, this work imparts the wisdom and insights of writers who instruct and amuse the reader on matters of our predominant values.