The Creativity of Action

Joas is one of Germany s leading social theorists today.
This book is a major study and re-evaluation of the theories ofaction.
As well as surveying past and current debates, it also offers anew theory of the creative character of human activity.

Hans Joas is one of the foremost social theorists in Germany today. In this outstanding book he outlines the fundamentals of a new theory of action, drawing on philosophical pragmatism. The work is based upon Joas s celebrated study of George Herbert Mead, but also establishes direct ties between Mead s work and approaches drawn from German traditions of philosophical anthropology.
A major feature of Joas s theory is an emphasis on the creative character of human action. Human activity is not coincidentally, but in a fundamental sense, creative. The work contains new discussions of the nature of human intentions, the embodied character of human action and the character of intersubjectivity.

The problem of action is of crucial importance in both sociology and philosophy, and this book adds fresh impetus to the lively discussions current in the English-speaking world.

Auteur

Hans Joas is Professor of Sociology at the Free University of Berlin. He was also a Permanent Fellow at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies. From 2002 until 2011, he was the Director of the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt. He is also Visiting Professor of Sociology and Social Thought and a Member of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.

Résumé
aeo Joas is one of Germanya s leading social theorists today. aeo This book is a major study and re--evaluation of the theories of action. aeo As well as surveying past and current debates, it also offers a new theory of the creative character of human activity.

Contenu

Preface. Introduction.

1. The Emergence of the Theory of Action.

2. Metaphors of Creativity.

3. Situation - Corporeality - Sociality The Fundamentals of a Theory of the Creativity of Action.

4. Creative Democracy.

Notes.

Bibliography.

Index of Names.

Index of Subjects.