Routledge A Fragment of a Sociological Autobiography: The History of My Pursuit of a Few Ideas

Edward Shils was one of the giants of sociological theory in the period after World War II. In this autobiography, written three years before his death in 1995 and never before published, Shils reflects on the remarkable range of his life's work and activities, including founding and editing the journal Minerva, being a central figure in the Congress of Cultural Freedom, serving as a founding member of the editorial board of The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, and being a member of the International Council on the Future of the University.Shils recognizes that a unity of concern runs through his many theoretical writings and activities. Early in his life the concern was expressed as understanding the character of consensus. During the last fifteen years of his life, he refined his understanding of consensus through investigation of the nature of "collective self-consciousness." That concern was the structure and character of the moral order of a society, and, in particular, liberal, democratic society. Accompanying the autobiography are two unpublished essays, "Society, Collective Self-Consciousness and Collective Self-Consciousnesses" and "Collective Self-Consciousness and Rational Choice," two areas of intellectual concern discussed in the autobiography. The book contains fascinating discussion of many of the people Shils knew throughout his illustrious career: Robert Park, Louis Wirth, Talcott Parsons, Karl Mannheim, Michael Polanyi, Audrey Richards, Karl Popper, Robert Merton, and many others.The volume represents Shils' final formulations on the character of society and its moral order. As such, it is a most important contribution both to the history of the social sciences in the twentieth century and to sociological theory. Review -Fragment represents a significant theoretical contribution to the sociological literature regarding central issues of moral and social integration. It also includes incisive commentaries on the utility of the work of various scholars (Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Georg Simmel, Karl Mannheim, Georges Sorel), theories (Marxism, psychoanalysis, exchange theory) and work . . . [and] provides a fascinating account of autobiographical details . . . [I]ndispensable for those interested in the development and nature of the discipline of sociology and in the field of social thought in general.- --Joseph A. Varacalli, The Catholic Social Science Review -This is a fascinating autobiographical account of one of the most important, original, and intellectual voyages in modern social science. It provides very important analytical insights both for the understanding of the development of modern sociological theory, as well as its historical background. It takes on critically some of the major contemporary theories, especially rational choice in modern and contemporary society, and focuses on central problems of sociological theory--the constitution of collective consciousness and of worlds of knowledge. It presents a picture of one of the most original and constructive sociological minds of the twentieth century and provides very important indications for further research.- --S. N. Eisenstadt, Rose Issacs Professor Emeritus of Sociology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem -Steven Grosby has done us a service by allowing [Edward] Shils to tell us how his ideas evolved over a long life-time of scholarship. . . . Shils is one of the very few sociologists whose intellectual biography is worth reading and we should be grateful that it has been placed before use by America's leading social science publisher. It is both a useful supplement to his powerful academic works and a pleasing reminder both of the man and of the political era and intellectual times in which he lived and played an important part.- --Christie Davies, Journal of Contemporary Religion "Fragment represents a significant theoretical contribution to the sociological literature regarding central issues of m